Headcorn Parish Council feared the loss of a street-level presence would increase after losing their community warden. So, they've hired one.
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00:00 New boots on the ground, but the wearer, no stranger to Headcorn.
00:06 Till last week he was a Kent County Council Community Warden,
00:10 Stewart's employer now Headcorn Parish Council.
00:14 KCC is cutting back on their community warden service, saving them £1 million.
00:20 The County Council says a new model will be introduced with room to be scaled up.
00:26 There is a reduction in money coming in to councils and to agencies and everybody else.
00:33 So if an area wants to be more resilient and look after its own people, then I think it's a fantastic thing.
00:41 A parish council employing a community warden is thought to be the first in Kent.
00:46 And Headcorn Parish Council claim the cost to the taxpayer will be less than a first class stamp per year.
00:54 There's been an incident in the village. OK, I'll get our community ward liaison officer to go and have a look at it.
00:59 Thank you very much. Bye.
01:01 We felt that if that position was lost, a lot of people in the village,
01:05 the most vulnerable people in the village would very quickly know about it.
01:10 Their problems would increase. It would make it so that we were then responsible for these people.
01:14 But without all the links and knowledge that Stewart has, he was able to help them.
01:20 He'll be helping vulnerable people in the community. But Headcorn also has a shoplifting problem.
01:26 I hope it would encourage shopkeepers to come and talk to me if that is the case.
01:31 And then we can then pass those concerns on to Kent Police and Maystone Borough.
01:36 The parish council believes at least two shops have been lost on a high street due to ongoing theft in the past few years.
01:43 They say a community liaison officer can only go so far in encouraging owners to report crimes if the police aren't seen regularly.
01:51 The truth is there's nothing we can do about the police. We can't employ a policeman.
01:57 I know we have police. You can see them all the time driving through the village.
02:02 They're not stopping. Now, I know that we do have two resident police people and that's marvellous news.
02:11 But they need to be more visible.
02:13 Kent Police has promised to increase its presence in the future.
02:17 And that will be welcome news as communities see a reduction in wardens.
02:22 But it's thought other parishes might follow suit in hiring their own community liaison officer.
02:29 Gavor Morris in Headcorn.