My New Home Area

When I moved here a few months ago, I noticed several "street scene" issues straight away.

However, knowing that I was in an area with Labour councillors, I waited several months as I realised they might already have these matters in hand. I didn't wish to tread on their toes, muscling-in on their territory, so to speak.

Nothing changed during that period, though; and when Google Street View extended to this area I was able to ascertain that two of the three most immediate issues I had identified had been exactly the same when Google's camera car had been here – over a year earlier (confirmed by the date when scaffolding on a block of flats nearby had been in place, and was also there in Street View).

The third – graffiti on a private end-of-terrace house wall – was different from the graffiti shown in Street View, so it had been cleaned off at least once since then. The broken (and dangerous) footpath, and the street light that was on during the day, were exactly the same.

Therefore I have been dealing with these three issues. One has been resolved (the street lamp), the graffiti clearance is just awaiting the arrival of a new tenant at the affected property in order to sign the necessary indemnity form, and the footpath is due to be repaired within the next few weeks.

To their credit, I am told by a local resident that the Labour councillors did help with an earlier issue of graffiti on the Cable TV boxes when he requested a meeting with them; but I don't think they have the same kind of interest in keeping an eye on their ward and dealing with such obvious visible issues pro-actively. They seem to wait until someone contacts them.

One of the (many) reasons why my old stomping ground was kept in such good nick, during the eight years I represented that ward, was that I made a point of walking down as many of its roads and other public spaces, often with a digital camera and my electronic PocketBook (a special version of the Psion-3 made for Acorn).

I'd note and photograph anything needing attention, and upon my return home I'd report it in, keeping a log of all that happened and when. I'd often pick up litter that didn't need a Picker, to drop into a bin if one was reasonably close. Sometimes someone would be around and might notice, mostly not. All of this was in addition to all those other tasks that a councillor needs to be doing, not instead of them, so there's no excuse for others who don't bother.

Regular readers of this 'blog will be aware that I have mentioned here, on several occasions, that I keep extensive records and a wealth of information on various subjects.

This practice of mine, in the ward, was just a natural part of that same methodology. There was so much that, in order to find records quickly, I had to sub-divide my "Casework" folder into six categories:

1. By address
2. By locale (e.g. an industrial estate or open space)
   
3. By person's name
4. By place name (e.g. a church, Post Office or airport)
   
5. By road name
6. By topic (for generic matters)
   

I am of course keeping full records of these three local issues in central Chatham. When all the work has been done, I'll post "before and after" photos here, just to show how a good ward councillor operates and achieves results without needing any prompting from the public – and for that matter not done for the sake of being publicly recognised for doing such things.

Some of us truly care about the community and its infrastructure, not just those things that can be directly used to make politicians look good in their next newsletter. I am determined to do my bit to help bring my new home area up to the standard that the residents where I lived before had come to expect as the norm.