Julie Iles, the Police & Crime Commissioner candidate for the Conservative party in Surrey, has hailed the action day organised on Saturday 10 November as a great success.
The Action Day, championed and organised by Mrs Iles, involved a variety of community action events across the county, including litter picking, street cleaning, public consultation and joining the work of ‘Street Angels’ in Camberley.
On Saturday, Julie was joined by Home Office minister, James Brokenshire, MP, at a litter picking initiative in Surrey Heath borough, followed by street cleaning in Stanwell. A programme of public consultation about where to locate crime-busting CCTV cameras in Stanwell will be taken forward in January 2013. Cleaning up a car park and surrounding areas in Upper Hale in Farnham, and a fly-tipping area alongside the Surrey Wildlife Trust in Wood Street village followed in the afternoon, and an evening with the ‘Street Angels’ in Camberley. Public
Mrs Iles explained why she had arranged this effort: "It has been long-established that the way that an area looks affects a community’s sense of well-being and the perception that nobody cares adds to the amount of crime committed, especially when visible symptoms include broken windows, graffiti, litter and the like.
"Time and again, people report that their lives are blighted by anti-social behaviour ranging from unpleasant personal incidents to thoughtlessness which harms local surroundings. I prefer action over words, and Saturday’s Action Day is just one way in which I’ve already made a real difference in advance of the elections."
She added: "The role of the Police & Crime Commissioner in Surrey will be to connect communities, safety partnerships, as well as voluntary and faith groups to cut crime and anti-social behaviour for people in our county. My action day demonstrated that it is possible to harness the willingness of communities to do those things that will contribute to reducing levels of crime and anti-social behaviour for all our communities.
"That cannot be achieved by drafting policies or processing paperwork at Police Headquarters; and the public have a right to expect that all candidates will be prepared to roll-up-their-sleeves and pull their weight in practical action across the county. Last Saturday’s Action Day was a demonstration of my commitment to act in such a way as will make a real difference for all communities in Surrey.
"I look forward to having the opportunity to use the levers available to the Police & Crime Commissioner to do what it takes on the ground to make Surrey even safer."