Community Payback Spreads Across Hart

A PIONEERING work programme for the Community Payback Team in Hart has been so  successful that it is to be extended across the district.

Two Hart District Council departments, Community Safety and Commercial Environmental Health have joined forces with the local probation service to identify and supervise the  new programme.

Last summer the unpaid workers began a tidy up and refurbishment exercise at Fleet Cemetery. They have swept paths, weeded untended graves, cleared overgrowth, redecorated benches and renovated perimeter fences.

The new programme will see Jen Wilson, Community Support Team member for the Safer Hart Partnership, supervise the group for one day each week while they work around the district.

Hart Commercial Environmental Health spokesman Nick Steevens said: “The work undertaken by the probation service has been invaluable and regular visitors to Fleet Cemetery are delighted with the improvements that are being made.

Without this partnership approach it would not have been possible to achieve such a dramatic change without additional funding.”

The scheme ensures that reparation for local crimes is of benefit to local communities. Parish and town councils and various other partners have been invited to propose work for the team to undertake in the coming months.