Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Several interesting items came to light yesterday.
The meeting lasted for nearly four hours but a few useful bits of information were made available.

In a presentation by Assistant Chief Constable Julie Clayton and Chief Superintendent Julian Kirby, the Wiltshire Police reaffirmed their belief in the Neighbourhood Policing Teams and acknowledged that the abstraction rate (the number of times that the local PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) is taken away from their 'home' beat) needs to be addressed. This is an issue that myself and many other councillors have made to Wiltshire Police, and it will be interesting to see if they can actually do anything about it.

The presentation concluded by stating that 'safe, satisfied communities' was their aim.

In answer to questions from a town council about the shocking state of many roads, the portfolio holder revealed how WCC defines 'defects in the carraigeway'. Generally potholes over 75mm deep with a maximum dimension greater than 300mm in main roads are treated as priority for treatment within 24 hours. Those between 40 and 75mm deep are dealt with as lower priorities. On minor roads (which most of the people in this Ward/Division use on a regular basis) the targets are for those of 100mm depth or over to be repaired within one week and those between 40 and 100mm to be repaired within one month!

So, if you live in a rural area the Conservative administration at County Hall are quite happy for you to lurch through almost 4" deep potholes for a month before they repair them.

At the next formal meeting of the council, I will ask how much WCC has to pay in compensation for this seemingly lax approach to highway maintenance. It is certainly an issue that the new unitary authority will do well to look at pdq.