Community Cohesion? What is it? I really want to deal with many
community issues in Headcorn. So over the last few months I have been
engaging with key officers in Maidstone Borough Council and the other important
agencies and services that affect the community like the Police, Kent County
Council and many more. It is so easy to
see the obvious problems that I want to resolve, but they all have a source to
the problem. Too often it is too easy just to deal with the obvious, sort it
out for a few days and weeks and then the problem comes back again! I want
longer term solutions that deal with the sources, where possible. It would be a
great challenge and difficult to overcome all issues, but I want to make a
start.
Its called a Community Cohesion exercise: in Headcorn we have
problems associated with commuter parking-reckless, selfish and irresponsible
parking often-plus we have some pretty selfish parking in the High Street,
often close to Sainsburys. It then becomes a litter problem. It also attracts
some selfish and bad behaviour.
We have many Gypsy and Travellers residing in the community, this
also creates some tension on both sides. It produces problems for them too. Its
too easy to just say it’s a Planning problem. It usually starts with that, and that is the start, but its only part of the problem, and
it’s a complex legal issue, so there are many facets to address. It affects
schooling for the young, it involves educating people in all respects and it
means there must be some sort of rational policy, or set of policies, to be put
into place. Very often those policies do not exist!
There are so many issues in the make-up of a community and we
could never address all of them or effectively, all the time. It’s just not
feasible, so we need to send tokens
or messages out. Messages that send and set an example and set
precedents for the future. We also need to find ways to address certain
problems, at source, as well as purely at the what, where and how it appears.
Even in Maidstone Borough Council-where you’d think it should be
easier for an elected member –it means discussing things with Chairs or members of a Committee and
with the main officers involved.
Take the Gypsy and Traveller / G&T issue: we may not want any
more G&Ts, as proportionally Headcorn Ward and its close neighbours have
more than most others. But they have to be somewhere. So we need a policy and a
plan to accommodate them somewhere. Without such a plan, then a Planning
Inspector is just going to say we have to have them, after lots of expensive inquiries
and appeals. So it needs to be tackled in various ways. We need a site for
them, but where, hopefully NOT anywhere near Headcorn. Their children will need
schooling. If they are breaking the law we need to enforce the law. Every one
of those issues is a different team or different person, or several people, to
talk to!
For parking issues where the commuter is the problem, this is due
to several reasons. There are too many appealing free areas to park, mainly
residential, where it imposes on the local community. This is a multi-agency
problem. It needs to be discussed with all of them. There is also speeding
associated with some of these areas. This brings in safety factors. Oak Lane,
Grigg Lane, Forge Lane especially are hazards. Buggy users, parents with
children, the old and young and all walkers are vulnerable. We also need a safe
passage way AROUND the village between key points like the Doctors Surgery and
the School that buggies, cycles and walkers can use. These are all things we
must work on in the Neighbourhood Plan and should houses be built, we must get
developers to take responsibility. We must also talk to many to address these
matters. One action I have taken is to ask the parties responsible for Railway
Station parking to review their charges, it may not come to much, but it might
make some difference.
Then there are some serious speeding issues in the area. I presented
to the Joint Transport Board/JTB that the A274 is one big “opportunity to speed”
and that it creates a culture of speeding from Sutton Valence to Biddenden.
There are places that are especially critical; the Maidstone Rd approach and
onto Millbank in Headcorn. We need to send messages to control the speed here. So some
of us operate “Speedwatch” and a petition raised loads of signatures to get KCC
to do something when I presented to the JTB. Initially KCC just looked at the
small issue and not the wider perspective and denied the petition, but when the
residents and communications were aroused by the short shrift to the matter, a
meeting was set up with the KCC cabinet member for Highways. It was heated, but
hopefully it will lead somewhere.
Litter is a problem in some areas:I have asked for Environment
Enforcement officers to come to Headcorn and “send messages”.
The litter at the Railway Station was bad and I ensured a bigger
bin was placed near the bus stop.
All small things in a “big jigsaw” so to speak!
The Community Warden and the Police Community Support Officer
actively take up different themes every week in this big jigsaw, from Policing
the parking around Sainsburys, to co-ordinating road safety issues, checking up
on fly-tipping and enforcing them where possible, monitoring commuter parking
and a host of other issues.
It’s all Community Cohesion, small things and over time, but
hopefully it will make a difference. But there are no easy or instant answers!
So today lots of meetings with lots of people in Maidstone House all day.
