Political View: Listening to residents – Councillors and Police Ward Walkabout

We covered all 3 villages and had the opportunity to engage with several residents, as well as taking forwards other issues to the officers in attendance.

Policing by consent is built on the principle that the power of the police comes from public approval, not through fear or force. When local communities feel that the police act fairly, respectfully, and in the public’s best interest, trust and cooperation naturally improve. This trust makes people more willing to report crimes, share concerns, and support policing initiatives, ultimately making neighbourhoods safer.

However, this compact is currently somewhat under pressure, as residents are frustrated by a number of issues that the Policing team seem unable to get on top of; there is the ever-present and increasing blight of fly tipping; although an intractable burden for the City Council, the public understandably regard this anti-social action by a certain cohort, to be a law and order issue.

Couple that with loud exhausts, noisy motorcycles and quad bikes usually ridden by youths not only without helmets, but often on public footpaths and farmland. These issues together with the relentless littering of parks and public places, loud music and noisy neighbours, all adds to the frustration and irritation felt by so many, and an increasing feeling that there is long, slow, spirit crushing decline in behaviour which is impacting on us all. This malaise is difficult to explain away but certainly needs to be addressed.

Libraries are currently under threat, but when was the last time you used a public library? That us one of the key questions currently being asked by the cross-party libraries working group.

Fundamentally, is there a place of public libraries in this digital age?

I am sure we all now very much rely on the internet for day-to-day research, and yet, in many cases find ourselves overloaded by just content from our smart phones.

Perhaps a step away from your digital overload with a visit to a library could be grounding— the scent of old books, the soft hum of focused readers, and the tactile experience of flipping through physical pages, must surely remind of how libraries serve not only as places for learning but also as community spaces.

Despite the rise of virtual services, many feel physical libraries remain essential, and with better focus could play a bigger part in our day-to-day shared experiences.

Opportunities can be developed to host workshops, reading groups, exhibitions, and spaces that encourage face-to-face collaboration and even lifelong learning. Libraries should support marginalized groups by offering multilingual resources, adaptive technologies, and safe environments for dialogue. Many could also serve as emergency resource centres during crises, proving their value as resilient and responsive institutions.

The essential caveat – Libraries could be better used if they are developed commercially. Essentially as a mufti faceted facility, the opportunities are endless - add in a coffee shop or cafe, provide a citizens advice information and assistance hub, offer a parcel pick up or drop off facility or up post office service. In effect ‘sweat the asset’.

I am confident by engaging the excellent team of dedicated and committed librarian staff, the library friends and support groups, there would be a mine of ideas and suggestion put forward for consideration.

But your thoughts, views and suggestions are also required: please make time to visit the City Council Website and contribute to the online survey and in doing so reinforce how important such a facility is, or could be, for your community.