Litter & 'Cameron'.

Really enjoying going out on the campaign trail and finding out what local residents believe are the important matters the police should tackle.  I was in Sunderland last week and this week I'm concentrating on the Northumberland area.  On Monday afternoon I was in Alnwick and I was surprised to see just how many tourists were in town, hundreds!  All drawn to the magnificent castle and the gardens, which have proved so popular.  Yet if you go a few hundred yards in town you can't help notice all the litter cast to one side by people waiting at the bus terminus.  There are plenty of bins there but people are just too lazy to use them.  Local residents told me that this was fairly common and they are fed up with it.  I saw 2 Community Support Officers on patrol and I suspect litter was the last thing on their minds.  We really need to tackle these issues which may appear unimportant to some but I believe are central to restoring civic pride in our cities, towns and villages.  The trouble is these issues nag away at us, are a constant source of aggravation and the difficulty is that once people lose pride in where they live it can lead to general apathy and lawlessness.  That’s why as Police and Crime Commissioner I would prioritise litter as an important issue and I would urge the police to start clamping down by handing out fixed penalty tickets and as far as I’m concerned the sooner the better!

So you might be wondering about 'Cameron'?  Well yesterday I attended the Hexham Women's Association and spoke to them about similar concerns.  They agreed that litter and civic pride were hugely important issues to them and they too were in favour of clamping down on litterlouts.  It was great to meet so many people so energised about the role of PCC and with such positive views.  As an added bonus my wife and I won a small, bloodhound, soft toy in the tombola for Paddy our 8-month-old son.  We have decided to call him, 'Cameron' and he will be my new campaign mascot, let’s hope he brings me luck!