During that time it has become increasingly clear that community safety is a priority for residents and businesses alike - and that everyone needs to work closely together to successfully deal with the issues that matter most to the public.

A key part of my role is to represent Havant Borough Council within the Safer Havant Partnership (SHP), which brings together representatives from a number of community safety agencies including Hampshire County Council, the police and fire service.

Havant Council has a responsibility to co-ordinate and enable the work to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour across the borough.

These and other organisations work together to agree the key community safety areas that the partnership should focus on.

The key areas identified for work during the next 12 months are anti-social behaviour, violent crime, reducing the impact of alcohol and ensuring that we listen to residents concerns.

All forms of anti-social behaviour can seriously affect the lives of local residents.

To combat these issues the SHP runs monthly meetings to enable all agencies to discuss problem areas and individuals, and to ensure prompt action can be taken using the full range of resources and legislation to challenge persistent offenders.

For example, last year as a result of working with the police and other agencies, the council introduced a borough-wide Drinking in Public Places Order, which empowers the police to seize alcohol from those engaged in anti-social behaviour in any public place.

This was used very effectively by our own Safer Neighbourhood Team on the beach recently when a large gathering had the potential to spiral out of control.

One very worrying crime is domestic abuse. This is undoubtedly one of the most under-reported forms of violent crime - yet it still accounts for some 20 per cent of reported assaults across the borough.

I cannot think of anything worse than being a victim of abuse in your own home with nowhere to hide from it.

I would encourage anyone who is, or indeed knows of someone who is victimised in this way to seek help by letting someone know what is happening.

Help, which could come from the police, a health care professional, Havant Women's Aid or Crimestoppers, is readily available.

The partnership has also identified that very often alcohol is closely-related to crime and is targeting perceptions of alcohol through the Know Your Limits campaign, in which young people are being encouraged to rethink their ideas about alcohol through public displays of eye-catching mannequins.

I believe we all need to think about what we can do to encourage a sensible drinking culture.

The Safer Havant Partnership has recently developed an interactive website www.saferhavant.co.uk to keep people informed of what is happening across the area and to give advice and guidance on community safety issues.

I would strongly recommend that you pay the site a visit from time-to-time but am aware that some people do not have access to the internet at home.

You can log on for free at the library in Mengham or see the panel for useful contact details of some of the community safety organisations who are working to make your area safer.