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Wheeling out help for town

7:57pm Thursday 9th October 2008

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A DISTINCTIVE white double-decker bus will be touring the town to show how local agencies are tackling anti-social behaviour.

The bus will be stopping off in a number of communities as part of Not In My Neighbourhood week, which starts on Monday.

People will get the chance to climb aboard the bus and meet key staff from the different agencies that make up Swindon’s Community Safety Partnership, including Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Probation Area, Swindon PCT and Swindon Council.

The aim of the bus tour is to help people find out how crime and anti-social behaviour is being tackled locally.

It will also give them the opportunity to raise any specific concerns or needs they have and seek personal advice.

Special clean-up squads will be on hand to scrub away unsightly graffiti and scoop up rubbish, improving the look of local neighbourhoods.

Drug and alcohol treatment teams will also be offering advice, and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue will offer free home fire safety checks to residents.

Richard Palusinski, the Community Safety Partnership manager, said: “The bus is a very visible reminder of the Community Safety Partnership.

“It provides an opportunity for people to see the work that the partnership undertakes to make communities look and feel safer.”

Visitors to the bus will also be able to check out how they can get involved and help make a difference to improve their local areas by supporting the work of the agencies.

Coun Colin Lovell, the cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: “The bus tour is important because the bus will visit people in their own neighbourhoods.

“It will be a vehicle that enables people to meet the agencies working to address crime and anti-social behaviour locally, and a chance for them to find out how they can be supportive and safely help tackle the issues too.”

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Your Say YourSwindon

Chowmai, Swindon says...
10:24pm Thu 9 Oct 08

Coun Lovell says "...and a chance for them to find out how they can be supportive and safely help tackle the issues too.”

Does this mean that Swindon Borough Council now has an Antisocial Behaviour Policy that is actually fit for purpose rather than just a document that is not worth the paper it is written on?

I will be visiting the bus when it is outside Debenhams next Thursday and really hope that SBC truly has improved on it's failures in the past.

It's all well and good to present a multi-agency approach that asks for the support of the public.
That same support needs to flow back to those who act as witnesses in the fight against Anti-social behaviour in all it's forms.


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Bobfm, South Marston says...
7:23am Fri 10 Oct 08

Here we go again. As I said many years ago when a Kent Police Officer, at the time we rolled out our new slogan, Kent Police Care, 'if we need to tell people that we have failed in our objective'.

I can driving around in a bus with front line staff on board improve the 'lot' of the general public, or it's perception of the services provided. When are politicians at all levels going to understand the public aren't gullible to spin any more. This Labour Government has cured us of that.

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Chowmai, Swindon says...
9:54am Fri 10 Oct 08

Actually Bob. The labour MP Michael Wills is one of the few people who steadfastly supported us and did not let us down once.
I wish the same could have been said about SBC.

That said, if the bus does actually empower just one person to make a stand then it has served its purpose.

May I ask you what you as UKIP councillor plan to do to empower the public to reclaim it's community from those who commit ASB in all it's forms?
(and no, I'm not a member of any political party and who I vote for is between me and the ballot box)

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ItsPavAgain, Swindon says...
9:58am Fri 10 Oct 08

Maybe they'd like to drive their bus along Wootton Bassett Road, up Westcott Place and then in towards town, counting the number of grafitti lags, piles of litter and discarded black bags of rubbish as they go.

Frankly I think this bus is some kind of sick joke that SBC are playing at our expense.

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Bobfm, South Marston says...
10:20am Fri 10 Oct 08

Chowmai, the policies of my party have been well stated on these threads and in various letters by local UKIP members, and can be seen in ukip.org. Now if I was a typical politician I would leave it there leaving you to feel I had evaded your question. So to answer directly.

I would not play media games like this. I would charge the lead officers in the council to consult with concerned citizens, within their own communities. Ask them what they want of the council and then appoint an officer to coordinate and action plans that fell within the council remit within defined time scales, not the open ended decision making we now have, where decisions take months or even years with vast sums of money wasted on consultants. The officer would engage with other agencies on each areas specific concerns.

Most areas have community centres where regular meetings of appointed officials could take place and where initiatives could be properly discussed and monitored by both the community and agencies.

This would start the process of real democracy and council accountability.

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nansview, Swindon says...
12:29pm Fri 10 Oct 08

"People will get the chance to climb aboard the bus and meet key staff from the different agencies that make up Swindon’s Community Safety Partnership, including Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Probation Area, Swindon PCT and Swindon Council.
The aim of the bus tour is to help people find out how crime and anti-social behaviour is being tackled locally.
It will also give them the opportunity to raise any specific concerns or needs they have and seek personal advice"


According to Bob I must be gullible, but gullible or not I think it's a GREAT IDEA!


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PeeveD, Swindon says...
12:56pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Unless this bus has bars on the windows it's going to be of no-use tackling anti social behaviour!

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Bobfm, South Marston says...
1:42pm Fri 10 Oct 08

nansview but aren't you employed by one of the agencies concerned.

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nuddy2, says...
1:57pm Fri 10 Oct 08

May be they could visit the Broad Green and sort out the p1ss heads that wander around abusing people after they've been kicked out of the town centre.

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ItsPavAgain, Swindon says...
1:58pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Nansview - BobFM was right in his first post. Rather than having to TELL us what a good job they're going, shouldn't they be SHOWING us by make our street clean and tidy?

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Casual Observer, Swindon says...
2:00pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Bob, when ASB happens in Swindon it gets reported and in general gets addressed. I'm thinking, as an example, grafitti, which has declined (certainly where I live) as a result of action taken by SBC and the police.

They didn't consult a cabal of spikey-haired consultants to do this, they just used a common sense approach and it worked.

I don't see what your problem is.

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nansview, Swindon says...
2:24pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Bobfm wrote:
nansview but aren't you employed by one of the agencies concerned.
What on earth makes you think I work for any of the agencies concerned, for you're info I dont and havent got anything at all do do with any of them!!
I am merely a gullible member of the public if that's ok with you, so gullible I used to think you were a very decent chap and supported UKIP policies and was very tempted and felt you were treated very unfairly on here and couldn't understand why people had a problem with you, now I have been on the receiving end of your comments of late, I understand and my impression of UKIP has gone rapidly down hill!

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Casual Observer, Swindon says...
2:27pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Bob! you've been rumbled!

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nansview, Swindon says...
2:41pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Bob, just because I support and admire all of our emergency services and as a gullible member of the public appreciate the dam hard work they do for me, you presumed I must be one of them (you know what they say to presuming) I would be honoured to be one of them, unfortunately I couldn't do their job for all the tea in China, but I am one of a very small minority who appreciate what they do and will be voting for a political party who supports them.

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sassy, Priory Vale says...
3:06pm Fri 10 Oct 08

How can this really by a bad idea? People can actually see and learn how ASB is going to be tackled. Those that are complaining about it being a bad idea are probably the same people that complain about nothing being done about ASB in the first place.....

I would be very interested to step on this bus and see what they had to say and I also think that it is a great idea for key figures to be on the bus answering questions and giving out information. It shows they are actually getting out there face to face with the public. This way in changes our perception of key figures just being in their offices all day not really caring because they aren't out there relating to the public.

It gives a real sense of community in my eyes and isn't that what we all want at the end of the day?

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Casual Observer, Swindon says...
4:09pm Fri 10 Oct 08

Sassy you are missing a fundamental point here - Bob didn't think of it, therefore it's not a good idea.

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Mum's The Word, Walcot, Swindon says...
7:41pm Fri 10 Oct 08

I like this idea. I think one of the key problems is that people don't always report anti social behaviour. They are either too frightened to report it, or have lost faith in the fact that anything will actually get done if they do report it. It's about time we all stood up. Hopefully this bus will do some good because until public faith is restored and it is proven over a substantial period of time that anti social behaviour is being dealt with properly, then nothing will change. The bus is a step in the right direction, but should not be treated by the agencies as an all out solution.

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RFM, Swindon says...
8:23pm Fri 10 Oct 08

BobFM said: "I would charge the lead officers in the council to consult with concerned citizens, within their own communities"

Erm, isn't this EXACTLY what is happening with the white bus? Getting out into the local communities to let people know what is going on and to receive feedback!

So the UKIP would use the exact same policy but describe it in a different way to try and fool gullible members of the public by saying it was doing something different? So basically UKRAP (sorry, UKIP) aren't that much different to any other party then?

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still an oldcrone, swindon says...
8:57pm Fri 10 Oct 08

this is certainly a good idea, I for one will be going along to visit as i would be interested on etting more information about this problem

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Casual Observer, Swindon says...
10:43pm Fri 10 Oct 08



Thanks Bob, you're just what this town needs.

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RFM, Swindon says...
7:39am Sat 11 Oct 08

I do believe BobFM is ignoring us on this thread. Typical (would be) politician, when the going gets tough and all that............

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Casual Observer, Swindon says...
7:57am Sat 11 Oct 08

Indeed RFM, I think he'd like this story to become 'chip paper' sooner rather than later.

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RFM, Swindon says...
9:37am Sat 11 Oct 08

A bit similar to the ridiculous statement that he made back in the summer when he slated the council for funding a family day in Faringdon Road Park. It was so unfair because the council didn't make any subsidies to pubs to make up for any potential loss of earnings! I hardly think that hundreds of families are going to flock to a pub next to a major road and railway! As soon as people started questioning his selfishness he soon got off his high horse and went and hid somewhere!

Some people are so full of their self-worth!

Can you imagine what it would be like if the UKRAP (sorry, UKIP) ever won an election........

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Casual Observer, Swindon says...
10:14am Sat 11 Oct 08

Quite right - he constantly accuses me of stalking him (huh?) just because I question the basis of his comments, knowing full well they are practically all self-serving or bad-mouthing ANY good thing that happens in Swindon.

I, and many others, think Swindon is a great place and I will defend it in my own small (slightly sarcastic at times) way.

As for FobFM, I think he's probably cleaning his pipes out or he's broken his pc by shoving a floppy disc into the cd drive. Silly man.

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