Friday 25 July 2014

Death of a Thousand Cuts?

First it's the toilets under threat - and the closure has only been postponed until April 2015, unless the Town Council can pull a very rich rabbit out of the hat to fund them.
Then it's the Sunday buses which won't be running after September.
And the playing fields which are being passed over to the sports clubs which use them to maintain, along with the club house.
And now the police and crime commissioner has had the bright idea of closing Hay Police Station and having the police work out of the Library!
I've said from the moment the post was created that these commissioners are a bad idea, and here's further proof of it, if proof were needed.
We've already lost PC Fion, who's been moved back to Brecon, leaving Hay with only a PCSO - a lovely lady, but still.... I remember when we had a police sergeant in town.
I can't see how this could possibly work.
It's bad enough having the phone to the County Council in the Library as part of Library Plus, since there isn't a space in the library where you can have a private conversation. Anyone can listen in.
People go to the police station for all sorts of reasons, and they need to be certain of confidentiality. There isn't a private space in the library, unless they move into the little stock room. Is the police officer going to share the front desk with the librarian - check your books out to the left and report a burglary to the right? Will she have her own phone to use, or will people ringing for the police find themselves talking to the librarian? Or will people have to go to Brecon for all that sort of thing, or do it online?
And, of course, the library might not be there for much longer - if the new school ever gets built, it's supposed to be moving into that building. Will the police move with it, or will the poor PCSO have to set up under the bus shelter at the top of the car park?
It's just as well that this is an area with a low crime rate.

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