March 2025 report from PC Phil Clemens

Drop-in surgery

• TBC

Your local officer is Police Officer Phil Clemens

What’s changed

• I have now resumed my normal duties following an extended period of injury. During this period, I had been unable to attend the parish council meetings or attend venues I normally would. I would like to thank both the parish council and residents for any frustrations this has caused in this period and hope I can regain the publics confidence in local community policing moving forward.
• Another intake of officers is joining Swale Community Safety Unit who, once established, will be a valuable asset in supporting Beat Officers. Over the next 15 weeks I will have an officer posted with me who will be learning about what it is to be part of the Community Safety Unit.

What’s going on in your area

• I’d like to thank Councillor Bolas for meeting me on 11/04/2025 outside the Parish Hall to talk about Borden and its current priorities and issues. We had a productive conversation about how I may be able to best serve the community moving forward.
• I and my colleague walked through Borden for a short period and engaged with some of the locals which was pleasant.
• I have been informed that many of the local roads are due to be changed from a speed limit of 30MPH to 20MPH. The benefits to this lower speed are very clear but will undoubtedly bring some additional challenges moving forward as local traffic adjusts to this change. I have no qualms in arranging speed checks in the coming weeks to enforce this, though my approach will initially be education as I anticipate teething issues with the change.
• Commuting traffic is causing issues with speed along as drivers are attempting to avoid sections of the A249 and A2 leading to/from Sittingbourne. Some of the signage has been damaged and does not correctly show the speed for a section of road between Maidstone Road and Chestnut Street. I have reported this to the Council.