'Too little too late '' says Ged Mirfin Conservative Candidate for the Ribble Valley North East and Whalley Councilllor as the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner announces a Rural Task Force, 8 weeks before he stands for re- election on May 6th.
Ged Mirfin commented ''For the last few years we have campaigned to reverse Labour's Commissioner Clive Grunshaw's retreat from rural policing. For 8 years and 10 months, he has been Police and Crime Commisioner closed front offices in police stations to the public in Clitheoe and Longridge and stripped away rural policing resources. Facing re-election this will be the first time that a PCC election falls on the same day as the whole of Lancashire will vote for the County Council. As a consequence the turnout will be higher. and Boroughs like Wyre, Ribble Valley and Fylde cannot be ignored. We can only conclude that the very late introduction after 8 years and 10 months in office of a rural task force is for electoral advantage, introduced as it is 8 weeks before the election date. Mr .Grunshaw may now cynically remember the rural villages and towns but rural residents will take the view'' too little too late''.
Cllr Mirfin has asked a number of questions to establish how many officers will be permanently located full-time in Clitheroe, including:
How many days will the Team be operating per month in the Ribble Valley out of Clitheroe? How many members of the Team will be permanently stationed in the Ribble Valley? Ribble Valley covers 226 sq miles. It is the biggest authority area in Lancashire. As we have already established from Lancashire Talking a number of Wards have identified Agricultural Crime as the top issue residents face: Theft of Agricultural Equipment; Theft of Animals (Rustling); Drug Dealing on Back Roads/Country Lanes; Burglary in Sparsely Populated Rural Areas and High-End Vehicle Theft (Stolen to Order) in a number of especially Rural Wards. Given that the definition of Rural Crime is highly contentious what will you be concentrating on?
Andrew Snowden the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner added ; -
‘’Ribble Valley is the largest Borough geographically in the County. And whilst a beautiful area and the happiest part of the country to live it’s rural villages attract property crime such as burglary and agricultural crime such as theft of agricultural equipment and vehicles and rustling of animals. The vibrant night time economy in Whalley, Clitheroe and Longridge meanwhile calls for an increased and more visible police presence to crack down on drug dealing, violence against the person and anti social behaviour. Resources are required to deal with speeding on rural roads and theft of and break-in to vehicles stealing car parts by out-of-town gangs on a made to order basis from roads and driveways in hotspots in rural areas.”
‘’Open Police stations are essential for residents to stay in touch with the police. Clive Grunshaw,forces them to travel long distances to Accrington, Burnley, Preston or Blackburn . Even when police officers are in local stations, the public have to use yellow phones outside to call for assistance which has to come all the way from Colne or Blackburn.
''I will work with the Government and local councillors to make sure that the Ribble Valley gets the police resources it needs to reopen our police stations and properly get to grips with rural crime."
‘’I will make sure there is a more even distribution of police resources throughout Lancashire and that Ribble Valley residents will not be treated as second class citizens.”
‘’Working with the Conservative government I will take up PM Boris Johnson pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers nationwide and make good use of 183 who will be added to the police strength in Lancashire.”
Nigel Evans MP commented ‘’The 11 Lancashire Conservative MPs will work with Andrew to make sure he has the resources needed to keep the public safe in their homes and communities.’’
