1.

Meeting opened by David welcoming new co-ordinators. No matters were raised from previous minutes.

2.

The meeting with the Mayor and Chief of Police scheduled for 14 February actually took place on Monday, 10 March, as the CofP was enrolling the new Police Officers on 14^th (much more important). They are now in training, patrolling with experienced officers. They are all English-speaking, will patrol on scooters and will carry mobile ‘phones, the numbers for which will be available to us when they are trained and on patrol.

A prolonged discussion on alerting new residents to the problems and general security matters followed, as a result of which David, who has another meeting with both the Mayor and the CofP on Thursday, 20 March, agreed to raise the following important points with them:

1. When we have a notice board in situ on the urbanisation, is it legal for us to display car registration numbers which we consider to be ‘suspect’ so that everyone is alerted to problem vehicles, and
2. How do we go about ensuring that ‘holiday homes’ which are broken into are made secure as it is obviously not our responsibility, and is in fact illegal for us to enter other people’s property.

3.

David requested that new co-ordinators meet with Denise at 8 pm Tuesday evening to go through the paperwork in the packs which he handed to them, and also requested that the co-ordinators for phases 2,3 & 4 get together, decide between them who will take responsibility for which street(s) and advise Denise so that she can amend/update the List of Contacts.

Paperwork printed by Orihuela Council for NHW use will be in English, Spanish, German and Norwegian, and David and Denise will also get together to construct a list of helpful English/Spanish phrases which will be a big help to all concerned when processing reports.

4.

The lady from Atlas told us that when they move new residents in, they will in future introduce them to the relevant co-ordinator for their area so that they can be made aware of the problems, and given advice regarding locks, grills, alarms, etc.. She also suggested that we might write to other sales companies, ie: Masa, Euro Anglo Sur, etc., asking them to do the same, but no decision was taken regarding this.

5.

120 residents have joined NHW on Dream Hills so far:

Phase 1 41

Phases 2/3 53

Phase 4 26

6.

Information on crimes, suspicions, etc., not reported should be listed and passed to Denise, as main co-ordinator. Anyone discovering a break-in, mugging, etc., actually taking place should immediately ring 112, and follow it up with a written report.

7.

Occurrences reported since last meeting = 42:

2 Bag snatches.

9 House robberies.

9 House break-ins.

17 Observations.

1 Vehicle break-in.

1 item recovered.

3 Observations from Orihuela Costa

8.

Co-ordinators were reminded of the importance of informing new residents to sign on the Padron at the Town Hall. This is the only way we will obtain additional police presence in the area. It was suggested that once the urbanisation is complete and handed over, we look at the possibility of employing security guard(s) to patrol. Considered to be a good idea.

9.

Kitchen security doors to replace the current flimsy ones have been sourced, at a cost of 300€ each. For information, contact Gerald & Denise or Pat & Roger.

10.

Burglars "calling cards" were mentioned and copies are attached. These are signs left on walls, in gardens, on window sills, etc., by burglars, informing other burglars where a house is occupied by a woman alone, where there is a dog, where the house is unoccupied but worth breaking in, etc..