I’ve just been having a look back at my case work files for the last few months. Most of it is pretty run of the mill stuff – apart from the huge bird of prey that was recently terrorising the neighbourhood!
I often say that my role as a councillor has 2 sides to it: the committee/policy work I do for the benefit of the whole borough, and the case work that is specific to the ward of Preston. Both sides of the role are interesting and varied, but today I’d like to offer a little window onto the case work.
Case work is generated in 4 ways:
- Residents get in touch with me about an issue by email, phone or text message
- Residents attend my monthly advice surgery
- Residents tell me things directly when I’m out and about doing my weekly street visits
- I report things myself pro-actively whenever I spot them
The issue of the escaped eagle owl is definitely one of the strangest things that has been brought to my attention. Residents were keen to tell me all about it whilst I was out leafletting in the Brightman Road area. They had been waking up to find small mammal carcasses in their gardens, and even in one case on their front doorstep. “It was like opening the door to an abattoir” one resident told me. Thankfully, in this case, I wasn’t asked to get personally involved, as rescuing dangerous birds of prey isn’t in my skill set. We did establish however that thanks to the efforts of a specialist organisation the bird had been found and re-taken.
Other, less dramatic things that have made it onto my case work list in the last few months have included:
- Noise from a local pub
- Blocked gullies
- Broken flagstones
- Sound issues when council meetings are broadcast over YouTube
- Issues to do with the Fish Quay
- Garden needing attention in Northumberland Square
- Potholes
- Commercial bins blighting the street
- Issues with school transport
- Bushes need cutting back
- Bins overflowing after the Bank Holiday weekend
- Grass cutting and biodivesity areas
- Leaves unswept from the autumn
- Zebra crossing issues
- Issues relating to memorial benches
- Rehousing for an elderly couple
- Builders waste in recycling bins in back lanes
- Changes to the rules around voting
- Parking on Queen Alexandra Road
- Parking at Monks Wood
- Parking on Sandringham Gardens
- Parking on Preston Road
- Street sign issues
- Defibrillator units
- Cycle paths
- Vandalism
- Problems with EV charging points
- Recycling uncollected
- Issues with brown bin collections
- Issues around tree felling
- And lots and lots of mail about what on earth is happening to The Exchange in North Shields as it shifts to new ownership
All the above examples of what I mean when I say “If it matters to you, it matters to me”
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