Camden weakens Street wardens in hotspots

Good news and bad news for local people with Camden’s excellent Street Warden service.

One the one hand they have been given new powers – and can now issue fines. On the other hand, the service has been diluted - a move labelled "naive" by local residents.

So the experience street wardens have gathered over the years in the hotspots of Kings Cross, Bloomsbury and Camden Town is now diluted.

(Not a peep, I should add, from Camden Town Lib Dem councillors Chris Naylor or Libby Campbell, over the last year on this issue - something which will come back to haunt them).

I say diluted, because with no increase in resources or personnel the wardens service will be much weaker now that it covers all of Camden.

Street Wardens were a good service because they grew trust over time locally, and were respected - especially on the estates.

Wardens were also proactive in ways PCSO aren't - organising football tournaments with local Somali kids hanging out on the streets.

How on earth warden with experience of ASBOs in Camden Town will be able to identify suspects when walking in Fortune Green is a puzzle to me – a point I raised at the Camden Town Unlimited meeting yesterday.

Remember - there was an alternative – Camden Labour promised to establish a fully-funded Street Warden service across the borough in our 2006 manifesto.