The bad news is the fear of crime is not. On the contrary, according to a council report, it is markedly up on last year.
So, while police statistics show violence, robbery and vehicle theft have all plummeted over the last half decade, thousands of residents across the district no longer feel safe when they are in our towns and villages.
Three-quarters of all those surveyed are not happy to leave their house after dark. Nearly half do not even like to go out in their own neighbourhoods when the sun goes down.
This, as councillors have recognised, is clearly a problem.
And, bizarrely, it is one which could prove harder to solve than reducing crime itself.
Campaigns to persuade people they have little cause for concern may be well intended but they are realistically unlikely to achieve significant results. Their reach is too small and, in any case, such council-led projects are prone to be treated with suspicion by the majority of the public.
Similarly, extra CCTV and lighting will not necessarily help. There is evidence lighting actually attracts youths – one of the main causes of fear, for right or wrong – while unlimited CCTV has obvious privacy worries.
Perhaps, ultimately, this fear can only be beaten from inside each individual.
Easier to say than do, when reports of knife crime and violence fill our newspapers and TV screens.
But the fact remains, crime is falling.
Now it is our turn to confront our fears and make the reclaimed streets the domain of law-abiding citizens.