XN000022-1974-10-16 — Page 52

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Wednesday, October 16, 1974

now beginning to have all these and you will have seen the beginnings of the neighbourhood policing scheme which we

intend progressively to develop.

All in all I am encouraged by the success of

these new methods and attitudes.

Two new sorts of relation-

ship are being built up. The first is between the people

who live in a block or a neighbourhood; the means of knowing

each other, as the families of a village used to know each other, is being offered and often taken with relief. Secondly a new relationship is being created between the people of these neighbourhoods and the public service, particularly the Police and the Urban Services Department and the Home Affairs Department. The growth is new and too

much must not be expected or claimed for it at this stage, but it is a healthy growth, and it must be carefully and consistently encouraged, commensurate with the ability of

the Department of Home Affairs to provide the necessary support. The aim must be quality rather than quantity for

Its own sake. So far this new process of co-operation

has been largely confined to the fields of cleanliness and

crime, but rightly all the time other subjects are being

thrown up in different neighbourhoods, and thus direct

consultation and participation over a widening field is

being evolved.

In short a new path can now be seen opening

up before us I am sure we should take it with confidence

and perseverance.

The Consumer Council.