This meeting of the Central Hounslow Area Forum will be preceded by an informal networking event, where residents will be able to speak to councillors and officers, before the formal meeting begins at 7.30 pm. The agenda for the formal meeting includes a presentation from a local community group, an update on the Hounslow PFI, and an open forum for questions from the public.

Hounslow PFI Update for the Central Hounslow area

The meeting will include an update on the Hounslow PFI, a major project launched in 2013 to improve highways services in the borough. At the previous meeting of the Forum in December 2023, officers from the Council's Highways Team gave a presentation about the scheme and answered questions from the public.

The December presentation included information about how the Council responds to issues reported by residents, including via the Fix My Street app. The presentation also covered the Council's 'No Mow May' policy, and its approach to clearing weeds.

The team was working with other councils and manufacturers to find an effective eco-friendly weedkiller or other method of weed control.

Community Spotlight: Hearty Fitness Bolly Bhangra group

The meeting will include a presentation by the Hearty Fitness Bolly Bhangra group. Hearty Fitness is a not-for-profit community organisation that provides fitness classes and health advice. Bolly Bhangra is a high-intensity workout that combines Bollywood and Bhangra dance moves.

This item is on the agenda under the heading Community Spotlight, which is not a regular item at meetings of the Forum. The agenda does not include any further details of the presentation.

Police and Community Safety Update

The meeting will include an update from the police and the Safer Communities Partnership on community safety in the borough. This will include a presentation on the Council's draft Community Safety Strategy 2024-27.

The strategy sets out three priorities for community safety in the borough for the next four years:

• Priority One is to ensure that residents feel less affected by serious crimes.
• Priority Two is to ensure that young people and adults exposed to and exploited to commit crimes receive help.
• Priority Three is to encourage Residents [to] work together to keep Hounslow Safe.

At the previous meeting of the Forum, the Safer Communities Manager gave a presentation about the draft strategy and asked residents for their feedback. The minutes from the December meeting note that:

There was considerable confusion however as the Priority [One] was written as ‘residents are less affected by serious crimes’ which people understood as a statement that Hounslow residents are less affected by becoming the victim of a serious offence than others, which appeared to make no sense.

Minutes from the previous meeting also record that residents were also unhappy with the wording of Priority Two, for similar reasons.