Wallaceburg residents are being asked to give their input to help make the community a safer place.
The Wallaceburg Neighbourhood Watch Steering Committee is organizing a town hall-style meeting in January to help address any residential concerns and get feedback from the public.
Ward 5 Councillor Aaron Hall said the idea came after the committee organized a similar get together in September. Hall said the first meeting had a great turnout and showed just how passionate the residents are about the topic.
"There was probably about 60 people there from the community that had different concerns with different crime happening in the community and theft and break-ins. We committed at the time as a group to try and organize a bigger event," he explained.
The upcoming meeting will feature several guest speakers including Ward 6 Councillor and East Side Pride Founder Marjorie Crew as well as Police Cheif Gary Conn. According to Hall, the General Manager of Community Development and Chief Legal Officer for Chatham-Kent, John Norton, will also be on hand for a presentation and to answer any questions.
"He'll be speaking about some property standards and issues. There were some questions back in September that we couldn't really answer so John, with him being on the executive management team for Chatham-Kent, he'll be able to field those questions from his perspective," said Hall.
Wallaceburg Neighbourhood Watch was formed in mid-2018 when a group of concerned citizens deiced to gt together and reform the community group which had previously disbanded five years prior.
As the newfound Neighbourhood Watch group grows, Hall said he's hopeful the committee will be able to organize similar events down the line
"It's always good to be able to have that open dialogue to get that public engagement," he said. "That's really important and I think it's important to have it in a face to face context as well."
The meeting in January is geared towards Wallaceburg residents however, Hall said people from other communities are welcome to join as well.
"We're obviously all a part of Chatham-Kent, we're all a part of the community. If there's other folks from outside of Wallaceburg that want to come, they're more than welcome," said Hall. "Any kind of feedback that we can get is good."
The event will be held on Thursday, January 16 at the UAW Hall in Wallaceburg from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Although it's not mandatory, Hall recommended that anyone who is interested in coming should preregister by contacting him or visiting the Wallaceburg Neighbourhood Watch Facebook page. He also encouraged community members to send any questions they may have in ahead of time.
