Community safety engagement and free bike registering sessions

7 May 2024

Our community safety team is hosting community engagement and free bike registering sessions across the district this year.

The sessions are taking place on:

Wednesday 15 May, New Milton Market, 9am to 12pm
Saturday 25 May, Gang Warily, Fawley, 10am to 4pm*
Wednesday 29 May, Roundhill Car Park, Fordingbridge, 12pm to 3pm
Tuesday 4 June, Hythe Market, 9am to 12pm
Wednesday 26 June, Ringwood Gateway, 9am to 12pm
Thursday 4 July, St Thomas Street car park, Lymington, 9am to 12pm
Wednesday 10 July, Totton Precinct, 9am to 12pm

Each year, we host community engagement sessions at towns and parishes across the district. We are joined by local neighbourhood policing colleagues to engage with residents and visitors on topics such as crime and anti-social behaviour in the community.

At the sessions, the teams offer practical advice on crime prevention and discuss how the council and partners of Safer New Forest work as a collective to keep the New Forest a low crime area.

Residents are also invited to bring their bikes to the sessions where they will be marked with a unique reference number, which is added to the official national bike register database. Registering a bike on the database usually costs £19.99, but it will be free at one of these sessions.

By offering free bike registering, we aim to reduce cycle thefts across the district and enable owners to be reunited with their bikes if they are lost, stolen and recovered.

Cllr Dan Poole, Portfolio Holder for Community, Safety, and Wellbeing at New Forest District Council, says: "It's great to see our community engagement events return this year. The events provide an excellent opportunity for our residents to speak with our community safety team, and local policing colleagues, about crime and anti-social behaviour in the district, and register their bike for free."

In 2023, we hosted 12 engagement events across the district and marked a total of 213 bikes for free. With the additional sessions this year, residents can benefit from this at no cost to them.

Residents can find more bike safety advice, as well as further community safety information, on the Safer New Forest website: https://www.safer.newforest.gov.uk/article/3024/What-should-you-do-to-protect-your-bike-from-theft

More information:

* Our community safety team will be attending an Emergency Services Day event on Saturday 25 May, which is hosted by Fawley Parish Council. More details are available on their website: https://www.fawley-pc.gov.uk/council_events/emergency-services-day/

Further details about the National Bike Register Database can be found on their official website: https://www.bikeregister.com/

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