THE general appearance of Church Hill Centre should be the main issue to be tackled over the next month.

That was the decision at the first Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meeting last Wednesday.

The meetings form part of a Government-led initiative called Local Policing, where teams of officers dedicated to a particular area address issues at a local level together with partners and the community.

Church Hill beat manager Pc Adrian Smith said: "Residents were invited to the meeting to raise any issues or concerns they had about their neighbourhood.

"Numbers were smaller than we'd hoped on the night but we were still able to discuss those issues affecting the lives of people living locally.''

He added: ''With the help of the PACT panel - consisting of the police, local authority, partner agencies and key community members - we drew up an action plan for the month ahead, focusing on the general appearance of the Church Hill Centre.

"It's recognised the appearance of the centre has a negative impact on people living and working there and that physical improvements would encourage the community to treat the environment with more respect.

"Members of the panel were allocated different tasks in relation to the issue and they will be working closely with a steering group already in place to address this.

"Realistically, a project of this magnitude cannot be resolved in a month but with the right focus, some important steps can be taken now."

The next PACT meeting for Church Hill will be on Wednesday, February 1, at Church Hill Community Centre, Loxley Close, from 7pm.