Community Caretaker – more thoughts

One year ago I wrote this...

Maybe now is the time to start seriously looking at providing services ourselves in the form of some kind of community support – a 'community caretaker' maybe with the remit of some pro-active social liaison/education responsibilities (talking/advising), along with some reactive response activity to incidents when reported (bluntly – clearing up).

That was mainly in response to reports of anti-social behaviour, vandalisms and low level crimes.
But there is another aspect where an as-and-when-on-call  'Community caretaker' could play a very important role for Emergency safety needs.

Today it was reported that the short narrow concrete bridge that leads from Town Mill Lane to The Green over the small adjacent stream had been damaged with a railing removed.

A Facebook comment appeared with a picture stating:

"Better watch out if you’re out walking with little ones. This is the bridge that leads to and from Town Mills and The Green"

It was an immediate risk to safety

It was clear that any young child could easily fall in the river and suffer injury or worse. The bridge needed immediate attention even if only in a temporary way to maintain safety until a full repair could be undertaken.

Being over a holiday period no one was around, but the situation would have been the same at almost any time. It was reported to the online system with the usual standard response of:

"We will assess your enquiry as soon as possible. We receive around 70,000 enquiries each year which we prioritise according to the nature of the issue." 

"In most cases our staff will need to visit the site to make an assessment, which we aim to complete within two weeks, subject to availability."

So that's it. Two weeks to make an assessment.
Meanwhile the danger would remain and a child could fall into the river. 😟

BUT ... A resident steps in... Thankfully a community minded resident put up a section of netting themselves.

Two questions came to mind...

1. Should Whitchurch have a small accessible store of equipment for such instances – maybe some tape, netting, brooms, bin bags, zip ties, shovels, and the like for small emergencies' that was made easily accessible; and/or
2. Should Whitchurch have an on-call 'Community Caretaker' who could deal with such matters – such as, in this case, putting up some tape, warning signage or netting until a full repair could be undertaken?

Request made to Town Council...

Mindful of the other earlier requirements and also taking into account increasing costs on residents and the forthcoming budget arrangements, a request for a full review Town Council staffing needs has been made.

The request was made at the Town Council Meeting on 9th December 2020. This latest incident shows how important that request might be.

It would enable the subject of a possible community support role to be considered in conjunction with the local community.

I think such a service would be helpful, others may not, but do you?