Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) has re-committed to hiring Police Community Support Officers after a withdrawal of local policing by Westminster politicians has led to a doubling of crime and spate of high-profile ram raids across Uttlesford district.
Paul Fairhurst (R4U)“The old Police Station was a local asset used to protect and serve our community. It is unacceptable to residents that proceeds of the £2.2millon sale were siphoned off by the political Police Commissioner to be used outside of Uttlesford. That could have funded local police officers for a decade or more. Why do they continue to fail to put residents and our police first?”
“We are facing an unpresented crime wave. Crime has more than doubled since the retreat of most of the night-time policing to Braintree – and shockingly we’re paying them more Council tax for this failure. In the last 6 weeks alone there have been ram-raids at the Co-op in Stansted, Aldi and the Leisure Centre in Saffron Walden. And village Facebook groups are awash with concerns from residents who constantly see white vans prowling their communities.”
“Westminster political parties, their policies, and their Police Commissioner stooges are clearly not working for us. Residents demand a change to local policing and until then, wherever residents have elected R4U councillors, we’re championing locally funded Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) on our streets, as we have in Saffron Walden, Newport, Elsenham and Henham.”
About Residents for Uttlesford
Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is the local independent party of north-west Essex towns and villages. Formed in 2014 by a number of residents’ groups, the party believes that on local issues residents should decide, not Westminster parties.
R4U is the fastest growing local political movement in its district. In 2015 it became the second party at Uttlesford District Council (UDC). In 2017 it achieved a further by-election gain with 60% of the vote. In the May 2019 Local Elections R4U gained majority control of UDC winning two-thirds of the seats. The result delivered the biggest loss of seats (-83%) by any Conservative controlled council in those elections.
R4U’s success has been based on the desire to give local people a voice and implement long range strategic and sustainable plans for their area.
R4U is also the majority party at Saffron Walden Town Council, where under its stewardship the council has rebuilt finances, invested in community assets, and won multiple awards. It is a minority party on Great Dunmow Town Council.
Residents for Uttlesford can be found on the web at www.residents4u.org.