Car-nage on the Dales!

👋 Ay-up neighbours!

We’ve had quite a few reports recently about two vehicle-related problems affecting our estate: suspicious activity around parked cars and vehicles speeding through our streets.

We’ve been speaking to the relevant authorities about both issues, and there are some things we can all do to help.

In particular, we’re looking for volunteers to help establish a Community Speed Watch scheme. Without enough people coming forward, we simply won’t be able to get it off the ground!

🚨 Suspicious Activity Around Vehicles

Several residents have reported groups of youths walking around the estate in the early hours of the morning, trying car doors and, in some cases, entering people’s properties to do so.

Some neighbours have witnessed this happening in real time, while others have discovered it afterwards through CCTV or video doorbell recordings.

Our local Senior Community Protection Officer has given us some useful advice about what to do when this happens.

📞 If You See It in Progress – Call 999!

If you see people trying car doors or entering properties in circumstances suggesting a crime is in progress, call 999.

Importantly, you don’t need to wait until something has been stolen or a vehicle has been broken into. Even if an attempt is unsuccessful, the police still want to know about it.

Please don’t put yourself at risk by confronting anyone.

📝 If You Discover It Afterwards – Report It!

If you discover suspicious activity retrospectively, perhaps by reviewing your doorbell footage the following morning, please report it using the Nottinghamshire Police online crime reporting service.

We’d also be grateful if you could let us know through our Report page.

Why report it twice?

While the police need their own records, the information we collect helps us build a clearer picture of what’s happening across the estate. We can then use these figures when meeting with local police to identify patterns, highlight problem areas and request additional attention where needed.

If incidents go unreported, the problem may appear smaller than it really is.

In fact, the police have recently contacted us to arrange a meeting about these incidents, so having accurate information to hand will be particularly useful. More details to follow!

📹 Got CCTV or Doorbell Footage?

We’ve set up a dedicated WhatsApp group, Incident CCTV Footage – Sherwood Dales Community, where residents can share footage of incidents. If you’d like to join the group, please contact us and we’ll help you get set up.

If you’re not on WhatsApp, you can email us at info@sherwooddales.org.uk or use our contact page to arrange to share your footage.

Our Senior Community Protection Officer has kindly offered to share relevant footage with the police at Neighbourhood Action Team (NAT) meetings, helping them understand what’s happening locally and potentially identify those responsible.

The more useful evidence we can gather, the better. Please keep original recordings and avoid sharing footage publicly or speculating about anyone’s identity.

A quick reminder about vehicle security: Always lock your car, check that it’s actually locked and avoid leaving valuables on display.

If your car has keyless entry or start, it’s also worth taking a few extra precautions. Criminals can use devices to relay the signal from your key fob, even when it’s inside your house, tricking the car into thinking the key is nearby. This can allow them to unlock and potentially drive away with your vehicle without ever having the key.

A Faraday pouch or box can block these signals, while some key fobs have a motion-sensing “sleep” feature (sometimes called “shake to wake”) that disables the signal when the key is stationary. Check whether your fob supports this or can be upgraded, and remember to protect your spare keys too!

🏎️ Speeding Vehicles

Another issue we’ve heard about repeatedly is vehicles speeding through the estate.

We’ve been in touch with Nottinghamshire Police about Community Speed Watch, a scheme that could help us do something practical about the problem.

🚦 What Is Community Speed Watch?

It’s a police-supported initiative in which trained local volunteers monitor vehicle speeds at approved roadside locations.

Volunteers use a speed detection device to identify speeding vehicles and record their details, which are then passed to the police.

The police may send advisory letters to registered keepers, encouraging them to slow down. Persistent offenders could also become the focus of targeted police enforcement.

It’s about education and changing behaviour, rather than issuing fines. Volunteers don’t have any enforcement powers, but the information they collect can help the police decide where further action is needed.

🙋 We Need Volunteers!

We’re hoping to establish a Community Speed Watch team for Sherwood Dales, but we need at least three volunteers to make it happen.

Without enough volunteers, the scheme can’t go ahead – so if you’d like to help tackle speeding through the estate, this is your chance to make a real difference!

Here’s what’s required:

• At least three volunteers, aged 18 or over.
• Around one hour a week from each volunteer.
• A lead volunteer, and ideally a deputy, to liaise with the police, look after equipment and help organise sessions.

Nottinghamshire Police will provide training, and monitoring locations will need to be assessed and approved before any activity takes place.

The necessary equipment costs approximately £600, although we’re exploring options to borrow equipment or share the cost with neighbouring community groups.

We’re currently working with the police to establish the arrangements, so nothing is up and running just yet.

✋ Interested in Helping?

If you could spare an hour a week to help make our roads safer, we’d love to hear from you!

Please email info@sherwooddales.org.uk or use our contact page.

We’re particularly keen to hear from anyone willing to take on the lead or deputy role, but all offers of help are welcome.

We’ll keep everyone updated as the scheme progresses.

🐝 Working Together for a Safer Sherwood Dales

Whether it’s reporting suspicious activity, sharing CCTV footage or volunteering to help tackle speeding, there are plenty of ways we can all make a difference.

As always, the more residents who get involved, the more we can achieve together.

🦆 Tarrah for now, mi ducks!

Rob and Steve – Co-Chairs