This week the Prime Minister, paused our progress along the roadmap delaying our final step until July 19th. This will give the NHS a bit more time to vaccinate a greater proportion of the population. By then, all adults should have been offered the jab, and two-thirds of people will have had both doses. Whilst we couldn’t take the full step we wanted, the ongoing success of our vaccine rollout means we can relax restrictions in some areas, including guest numbers for weddings, as well as increased capacities for some of our big sporting events, including Wimbledon and the final UEFA Euro 2020 matches at Wembley.
With the sun shining concerns have again been raised about those driving through the area in an antisocial and dangerous manner.
On Saturday, I went out with Sussex Police District Commander, Jon Carter, to get an update on Operations Downsway, which aims to tackle dangerous and antisocial driving in the area. Throughout the day I was shown some of the key hot spots where the police are utilising a range of methods, from enforcement, education, and some more innovative technology.
The police have secured funding to trial a new acoustic camera, which it is hoped will be a new tool to prosecute people whose vehicles make excessive noise, which is commonly caused by excessive acceleration and deceleration, and occasionally vehicle modifications. This work has been ongoing for well over a year now, since Cllr Alan Sutton, established the Antisocial Driving Taskforce, which brings together myself as the local MP, with Parish, District and County Councillors, and my neighbouring MP Andrew Griffith. As a result, there has been an increase in engagement with community speed watch groups and more police action. If you want to get involved I advise you get in touch with your local Parish Council who are leading the community efforts.
Last Friday it was fantastic to visit Fernhurst Primary School with local County Councillor, Tom Richardson, to see how everyone was settling in post-lockdown. As with every school visit, I received lots of interesting and challenging questions from the children, covering key political issues, local issues and lots of questions on nature and the environment. They also raised how their journey to school could be made more environmentally friendly and safer. I have to say visiting our wonderful schools and talking to local children is always one of my favourite parts of the job.
