ACCORDING to recent figures

published by NFU Mutual,

rural crime is on the

decrease.

Regionally the South West

of England saw one of the

steepest drops in rural crime,

with an impressive 26 per

cent reduction in 2012.

Despite the encouraging

fi gures, crime continues to be

a very real concern for rural

communities.

The Community Council

of Devon works with communities

to help develop community

led plans, and rural

crime and police presence

continues to be a real area of

concern for people.

Martin Rich, a community

planning advisor for the Community

Council of Devon

explained: "We work with

communities to help them

identify and deliver the priorities

for their community's

development.

"Rural crime is a topic

that comes up again and

again.

"It has a huge impact on

communities, individuals

and the rural economy, both

fi nancially and emotionally.

"Obviously we are delighted

to hear that rural crime

in Devon is on a downward

trend, but for those who have

been victims it remains a very

real subject of concern."

Tony Hogg, Police and

Crime Commissioner for

Devon and Cornwall echoed

this viewpoint in an article

in the Western Morning News

earlier this month, saying:

"Clearly I'm delighted that

there appears to be a noticeable

reduction of rural crime

in this policing area.

"However, we must not be

complacent and I'm keen that

we continue to make sure that

we are doing everything we

can to continue this trend for

the long term.

"As always, we have a real

balance to strike with allocation

of our policing resources

between rural, urban and

coastal areas of this large

area, and an awful lot of

work has gone into getting

this right."

Tony Hogg will be discussing

rural crime and addressing

the realities of meeting

expectations at the Community

Council of Devon's

annual conference on September

12.

The conference, entitled

"A Sense of Place" will take

place at Exeter Racecourse

and has a broad theme around

rural identity.

Tony is one of eight speakers

who will be taking part

in a bid to address the issues

that really matter to rural

communities.

To fi nd out more about the

conference or to book a place

org.uk/c/95/a-senseof-

place or telephone 01392

248919.