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the Press Release Index
27th September
2006
Excellent Response To Petition Calling
For More Police Officers For Stonehaven
Stonehaven Conservatives today thanked local residents for
the excellent response to their petition calling for a
stronger police presence in Stonehaven and the surrounding
areas. They called for extra funding to be made available to
Grampian Police but also for current resources to be
redeployed to the Mearns community. They also outlined the
next phase of their campaign to tackle vandalism in the
town. In two sessions on succeeding Saturdays they attracted
over 300 signatures in under 4 hours.
Stewart Whyte, Scottish Parliamentary Candidate for West
Aberdeenshire and Kincardine said,
"I
am delighted at the response that we have had to this
petition and we will be taking the signatures to the people
who have the power to do something. Stonehaven is a great
place to live and locals are rightly proud of their town
but, it has a terrible summer of vandalism. There are a
small number of hardcore louts who have no regard for their
community. They have no respect for others and no fear of
the law. The Chief Constable needs to get involved and he
needs to coordinate a deliberate and targeted drive to
tackle this problem.
It
is clear from the enthusiasm with which people signed our
petition that the local community wants action. People are
angry and frustrated but they are determined not to let the
louts win.
Personally speaking I would make the vandals pay for the
damage they caused. I was disgusted at the repeated attacks
on Carronhill, the special needs school, and this weekend’s
attack on the swimming pool is completely unacceptable. The
people responsible need to be hit where it hurts – in their
pockets. It would only take a few prosecutions for the
message to get round the rest.
The
great majority of young people in Stonehaven are responsible
and law-abiding. They get frustrated when the actions of the
mindless minority sees them all tarred with the same brush.
The
petition has been so successful that we have decided to
extend people’s opportunity to add their voice to the call
for something to be done. We will be out knocking on doors
in the town in the coming weeks giving people the
opportunity to add their names. The petition will then go to
Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Miss
Goldie visited Stonehaven last month and at a meeting in the
Waterfront Café she spoke of the importance of taking back
our communities from the yobs and thugs.
In
addition we will send the completed petition to Jack
McConnell and Colin McKerracher, Chief Constable of Grampian
Police.
I
want to clearly stress that this is not something that we
have to accept, vandalism is not just one of those things.
We can do something about it but, it requires political
will. This is a recent problem in Stonehaven and we can
tackle it now before it becomes rooted into the community.
Through their enthusiasm for the petition the people of
Stonehaven have demonstrated that they want something done.
I am determined that their voice will not go unheard.”
Anyone who wants to sign the petition can contact the
Conservative office on Robert Street on 01569 762785 or
email waktories@btinternet.com.
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