Roger Gambba-Jones

Just a little play on the phrase ‘Anyone for tennis', get it?  Although I suppose if I have to explain it, it's not very clever to use it, but never mind I'm not very clever anyway! 

So on to today's subject:  Given all the bad press being generated around the subject of community action, I'm almost afraid to raise this subject.

At the last Spalding Towm Forum meeting, we discussed the possiblity of employing a street cleaner in the same way that some other towns and villages in South Holland do.  It quickly became apparent that spending £17k plus a year would not a good use of the Spalding taxpayers money, especially as the problem we were trying to deal with was in the non-town centre areas of the town.

I therefore proposed that we look at how we might be able to deal with the issue of local grot spots and general littering by recruiting volunteers that live in each ward and that of course brings me back to the issue of the recent bad press such volunteers have been given.

At what point does a community spirited volunteer, who is will ing to give up some of their personal time for the good of their community, become a snooper in the employ of the ‘system'?

As far as I'm concerned, if something is wrong, a mess is being made, or damage is being done, then it doesn't matter who reports it, as long as it get reported and fixed!

The town forum will need to decide if we are actually going to offer a small annual payment to those who volunteer, or if we are just going to provide the equipment required to do the job. 

I hope we are able to organise this, as looking after the place we live is not just about the council emptying the bins and sweeping the streets, it's much more about the people themselves playing an active role in looking after their community.

For little persons read little men, but I thought I'd better be a bit PC for a change!   

I was going to give this piece the title 'The police state moves one or two steps closer'.  However, given that what's happening doesn't involve anything close to proper policing, that wouldn't be accurate!  

It's become standard practice to deal with the increasing mis-behaviour of the public by introducing more rules, regulations and laws.  Of course we then need to have these new rules applied with vigour, but as cheaply as possible.  It started with the introduction of the well meaning but ineffective and it would appear increasing misused police community support officers. 

Have you ever wondered who the support bit of this title is supposed to refer to?  Is it the police bit or the community bit?  Personally, I thought these lads and lasses were recruited for the benefit of the community in the first instance, but that doesn't seem to be the case these days.

It would now appear that government is going to widen the scope of the non-police policing of citizens by giving councils the ability to introduce local byelaws without seeking approval from higher authority.  See the link  http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/942845

I understand there are also plans afoot to give a range of public officials and private operators the ability to dole out penalty tickets and levy fines.  Heaven help us!  As well as running the risk of completely alienating local taxpayers, by making them see anybody who works for their local council as a jumped up little Hitler or potential snopper, we could also see an army of private sector snoopers created.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2628415/Civilians-given-power-to-issue-on-the-spot-fines.html

This is policing on the cheap gone mad.  Like it or not the 'real' police are the ones who are supposed to have the right type of training and the right atttitude to policing the public to the high standards we expect.  Society is becoming less willing to comply with the rules just because they exist, even the police find this a challenge.  Introducing pretend policeman with minimum training and a potential power complex is just asking for trouble and is very likely to see an increase in violent confrontations.

If we are going to have all these non-police-persons (there goes that PC thingy again) going around policing us, then it should be done in the same way it's done in places like Germany or even the USA.  These people should be properly trained and uniformed and not just given a certificate for a few hundred pounds and a little badge that they may or may not choose to wear. 

We are spending lots of time and not a little money on consulting and listening to the public and telling them we're there to help.  So, I don't want my council turned in to the bad guys because the government wants to police the public on the cheap.    

Dominic Grieve, the Conservative shadow home secretary, said the scheme was the latest example of the unjustified extension of surveillance powers under Labour.

He said: "The public will be angered that the Home Office is seeking to take serious powers that should be appropriately applied by the police and encouraging them to be given not just to local councils, but also to private firms.

"The public want to see real police on the streets discharging these responsibilities, not private firms who may use them inappropriately - including unnecessarily snooping on the lives of ordinary citizens."

Despite what many people think, the council has no choice as to who can buy a copy of the electoral roll.  Some bright spark in the government thought it would be a good idea, back in 2002, to allow anybody with a couple of quid to spare to buy a copy and we've all been suffering the consequences ever since. 

However, pressure is building for this rule to be changed and for councils and therefore the taxpayer, to be relieved of the admin burden of providing this loss making service to the junk mailers.  See the story link below for full details. 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4608326.ece

In the meantime and remembering the government seldom does anything just because the majority of the public want it, you can do something to cut this flow of wasted paper and other resources by registering your address with the Mailing Preference Service.  Once your details are on the register, it is an offence in law to send you unsolicited mail.  I think it can actually cost the offending company £20,000 for doing it!  See the link below to register.

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/mps_choosetype.html

Incidentally, there's also a Telephone Preference Service to prevent telephone cold calling and the fine is the same!

 http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

Below is a link to a website that helps people to find their local elected representatives.  It starts low - that's me and goes on to identify your MEP.  Just enter your postcode and bingo!

http://www.writetothem.com/

I didn't know it existed until I was contacted by a constituent (I'm not sure that's the right term at district council level, but you know what I mean - somebody who might vote for me!).  Looks like a very good site for people to keep in their favourites.  

Some of you (hopefully all of you!) will of heard the flood warning sirens being tested today and just as hopefully realised that it was a test and not the real thing!   (I could add a swipe about realising that it's not the Russians coming either, but I suppose that wouldn't be very PC would it?). 

Just to drift off of the point for a moment (as I like to do).  The Station used the same system for call outs when I was based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire and the things would normally go off anytime between 2 and 4 o'clock in the morning, which was just great when you had a young baby that you had just gotten off to sleep!  Anyway, some times my dear old mum would come and stay with us and having lived through the whole of the London Blitz, the sounding of these sirens was guaranteed to wake her up in a complete panic, even nearly 30 years later!   I hope they don't have the same effect on anybody in South Holland!

So back to the matter in hand.  Having had some brief discussions with our officers about the system, it would appear that, as well as being very expensive to maintain, the system is now far less effective than it used to be.  This is partly due to the increasing spread and extent of development and possibly also due to the increasing levels of everyday noise we all seem to have to put up with even a rural area such as ours.

At some point there is going to be a public consultation (we just love those things in local government don't we!) and then somebody will do what they were going to do anyway!  Sorry, that's the cynic in me showing its ugly face again.   Although we are very confident about flood management and flood monitoring in our area we must never be complacent and reliable warning system will always be needed just in case.  At this moment in time, I don't know what the alternative is going to be, but I hope people take an interest when the time comes and let us know what they feel they need in order to feel safe in their own homes.