RESIDENTS are being invited to meet those responsible for community safety this month as the South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership holds its annual forum.

The event will be held on Wednesday February 22 in Rattery Village Hall, South Hams, bringing together senior police, council, fire service and housing association officers to update people on their work around South Devon and Dartmoor.

The event runs from 12.30pm to 4pm, offering refreshments as officials discuss everything from anti-social behaviour to Neighbourhood Watches to safer driving campaigns.

Designed to bring people up to date, explain local powers to tackle crime and give people the chance to ask questions first-hand, the event will also give information about initiatives which people might not be familiar with. These include an Alcohol Diversion Scheme, which offers people a £30 discount on fixed fines for public drunkenness in return for attending a workshop about the effects of alcohol abuse and Drinking Banning Orders, which can be made by courts to prevent people visiting any licensed premises like bars, restaurants and more.

Ian Bollans, Chair of the South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership said: “This will be a great opportunity for people to meet senior officers and ask any questions first-hand. There are lots of agencies involved in the Community Safety Partnership and the work we do is quite diverse. Although we live in a very safe part of the country we need to maintain our efforts to keep crime down, and also make sure local people aren’t unduly afraid of crime.

“The Forum will explain more about our work, but importantly it also gives us a chance to listen to local views and concerns. We’re welcoming anybody who’d like to come along and would be pleased to see as many people as possible there.”

Anyone who’d like to come along can register to attend by emailing communitysafety@teignbridge.gov.uk or phoning 01626 215894. The Community Safety Partnership also produces a quarterly newsletter, so anybody who can’t attend but would like to keep up to speed can subscribe using the contact details above.

The South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership is made up of representatives from Teignbridge District Council, South Hams District Council, West Devon Borough Council, Dartmoor National Park, Devon County Council, Police, Police Authority, NHS Devon, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Probation Service, Integrated Youth Service, Devon Drug and Alcohol Action Team, Voluntary Sector, Prisons, and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Its priorities for 2012/13 are Alcohol Misuse and Anti-Social Behaviour.