Resident survey results for Southfields published

Crime is the biggest local issue for residents of Wandsworth's Southfields ward, followed by Health services and Clean streets.

In a survey by your local Lib Dems answered by nearly 300 of you, these concerns were followed by the planned extension of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and Air quality. 

We dug further into crime, and car crime was by far the greatest concern. Burglaries and anti-social behaviour were also high up. 

A striking 12 per cent of you have been victims of crime in the past year and 38 per cent have witnessed anti-social behaviour. The good news is 78 per cent feel the area is safe or vey safe. The biggest advice to police was to be more visible. 

What we’re doing about it

Local candidate Sue Wixley has spoken to PCSO Don Lopes from the Southfields Safer Neighbourhood team to highlight concern over crime, particularly anti-social behaviour and car crime.

Similarly, Kieren McCarthy raised the issue of police visibility with Detective Chief Superintendent Clair Kelland and Wandsworth Superintendent David Bannister, and has become an official Met volunteer.

It’s a start. The Metropolitan Police will be holding a community meeting in Putney soon that we’ll attend and report back to you on.

Cuts to funding by the Conservative government are behind many of the Met’s problems. The Lib Dems would reverse that trend.

National concerns

The NHS is the issue Southfields resident are most concerned about at a national level. 

That’s not much of a surprise given its importance and the constraints it has been under for a long time.

Education came second, ahead of Jobs and the Economy. Then came the Cost of Living. In a separate question, 68 per cent of you were concerned or very concerned about increased costs. 

As Liberal Democrats, we are worried about and focused on Climate Change.

The Wandsworth Liberal Democrats have set up issue groups for each topic and will be gathering feedback to feed into the national policy team. If you are interested in being a part of that, please let us know.