The absence of community policing is to blame for crime in our parks, not flowers and table tennis.
Parks are one of our most loved, most utilized and most beneficial public assets in Southwark and across London.
However, the benefits of our open spaces in some areas are being undermined by unchecked anti-social behaviour and crime. Some communities are having their parks taken away from them, and seem to have no one to turn to for support.
Our Lib Dem group in Southwark has a plan to address this urgent issue before a worrying trend becomes a depressing but accepted norm.
Meanwhile, Southwark Labour recently delivered an outstanding lesson on how not to tackle this issue.
In response to concerns raised by locals, Southwark opted for the strange tactic of making the community space worse for everyone in order to deter anti-social behaviour.
Perhaps their logic was that if they make it bad enough, no one will use it – even those causing the problems.
Removing the table tennis tables from Camberwell Green received righteous widespread ridicule and removing the benches will only serve to make the green less accessible.
Most baffling was the decision to destroy decorative flowers in Nursery Row Park, which were grown by the community over ten years, and paid for with £10,000 of council money.
These reactive measures will do very little to deter crime and anti-social behaviour, but will undoubtedly make these community spaces worse for those who use them.
Southwark Council destroys Walworth flower walkway in ongoing anti-social behaviour crackdown
The real solution is far simpler, but one that requires systemic changes here in Southwark and in London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
My fellow Liberal Democrat councillors and I have sat through countless meetings with residents and police officers and the demands from locals are consistent and clear.
People want and need a return to community policing. We need visible officers who know the area and the people. Officers who understand their communities’ issues and concerns and are able to offer real support to vulnerable residents.
Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, Rob Blackie, has a plan to fix the Met – and it starts with a return community policing.
The Mayor has been asleep on the job here – police numbers in London are falling again, even though he has been given money for recruitment. And around 3,000 police officers are stuck doing paperwork because the Mayor hasn’t recruited enough civilian support staff.
Rob Blackie’s plan to reset the Met would free up officers to tackle serious crimes like rape and sexual assaults, where convictions have fallen to unacceptable levels.
Here in Southwark, we are proposing a motion at the next council assembly that will force Labour to work with communities groups in tackling anti-social behaviour and crime.
We sincerely the Labour members support this motion, and avoid embarrassing themselves in future.