Visible Policing - have your say

Invitation to attend 'Saving Visible Community Policing' conference - Friday 6th December.

It is our pleasure to invite you to our 'Saving Visible Community Policing' conference on the morning of Friday the 6th December 2013 at the Kent Police College, Coverdale Avenue, Maidstone, ME15 9DW. This is a real opportunity for you to have your say on the next round of funding cuts and to debate the impact on policing in the county.

You may be all too familiar with the stresses and strains of resourcing and funding cuts on our vital public services. Crime and public safety are of utmost importance to our communities, families and friends. Therefore, when making key decisions, we want to ensure that we consult as widely and in-depth as possible.  That's where we need you.

As a resident of Kent, you play a part in keeping our community safe and quite rightly you should have a say in the future of policing in the county. That's why we are particularly keen to have your input and considered views on the next round of policing cuts, including the possible impact on visible community policing.

The event will set out a number of scenarios and options and it's a chance to get everyone involved in shaping the future of Kent's policing. We hope you will take up this invaluable opportunity to speak to both of us by attending our event.

So please find out more here and book your place today.

Dangerous junction

We have a major problem with a local road junction that will soon result in a road traffic accident, and injury or even death.

There is a pedestrian refuge in Canterbury Road, near the junction with Charles Street. The position of the refuge seems to make it difficult for some longer vehicles to turn left from Canterbury Road into Charles Street.

Over the last few weeks, we have recorded several videos of vehicles (all of them PCL lorries) driving dangerously and illegally at this junction. What you can see is the lorry driving down the wrong side of the road into the oncoming traffic, or looping all the way round the junction, simply to be able to make the turn:

http://www.youtube.com/user/EastCliffPanel

The major culprit at the moment is PCL - these are the delivery lorries for the Herne Bay branch of Iceland. (Iceland do not have a direct email address, so I have contacted them through their website.) It is worth noting that dustcarts also have problems at this junction, as do the heavy plant vehicles associated with local building work.

As you will see on the YouTube videos that we have recorded, the PCL lorries repeatedly carry out dangerous manoeuvres. This recently almost resulted in a head-on collision, which you can see in the most recent video:

Kent Highways have told me that this junction isn't a high enough priority, as it doesn't have a crash history. It is blindingly obvious that continued inaction will all but guarantee that it will have a "crash history". I've sent them a link to the videos. I've also sent a link to PCL, the Police, and our county councillors.

Let's hope they sort something out before someone gets hurt.

Freedom of Information: what they say

HB Gazette 16th September 2010