Council cuts 100% of park ranger patrols
I submitted this question about park ranger patrols before the last full council meeting Can the portfolio holder tell us how many patrols were performed by park rangers during 2011-11The answer really surprised me. Not the number of patrols, which they tell us about, but the rest of the information, which I didn't ask for at all. A common complaint that I and others have is that Labour hardly ever answer the questions they are asked. They answer the question they wanted you to ask. See for your self.There were 9347 patrols scheduled to be performed by park rangers over the 12 month period April 2010-March 2011, covering 147 sites. Approx 95% of the patrols were undertaken plus other ad hoc site visits as needed. That's my question answered as far as I am concerned. Here comes the bit that will come as a surprise to everyone who assumed that the patrols that Labour claimed were vital when we were restructuring the service a few years back would continue. There was never any evidence to suggest and/or support the assertion that scheduled proactive patrols were effective in reducing crime and/or vandalism, increasing public perception of safety or improving visitor experience or facilities. The quality {societal impact} measure of patrols are difficult to measure. It's a known fact {as in the case with all public space} that the public perception of safety is improved as a result of providing well maintained parks and open spaces that are welcoming clean and accessible, the councils parks provide the above. Following the parks service restructure in 2011, and since May 2011 parks are not now the subject of scheduled patrols. Park rangers now react to reports from partner organisations, contractors and residents and the aim is now to focus their time and the services resources on for example conservation work, usage monitoring and physical inspections. There has been no reported increase in parks based issues as a result of the restructure and the reduction in the number of park rangers. The service and the council will also benefit substantially from January 2012 as a result of the new environmental services contract which provides for a contractual requirement for the contractor to provide a detailed borough wide reporting regime across all public space, both street based and for parks and open spaces. God, I thought the answer to the question I didn't ask would never stop. What worries me about this is that this is the first i have heard that all patrols have been cancelled and they are sneaking the information out in this way. No consultation, no announcement. They seem also to be suggesting that ranger patrols were worse than useless and that rangers were not only wasting their time wandering around our parks, but they were also waisting council taxpayers money.That's not what they said at the overview and scrutiny public meeting where they heaped praise on rangers and said they were cutting them because of the coalition government cuts. It seems now that they were cutting them because they think they were a waste of council taxpayers money. If I didn't ask this question, would they have ever told us
Colm Costello ● 5573d7 Comments ● 5571d