Many on these pages have been discussing the decline of Surbiton, talking about yobs on the streets and high levels of crime.
I would conceed that there may well have been changes in Surbiton that many of you are unhappy about, but they have been caused, not by the scum and newcommers that you talk of but by yourselves!
All of you live in your little cocoons, surrounded my modern media and communication devices, and outside will be a modern form of transportation.
When you need something from the shops you will drive to waitrose car park, or into Kingston, or beyond.
When was the last time you walked to the local shops, took a stroll around our beautifull tree lined streets or took a book to the park.
The downfall of surbiton? Yes, who's to blame? You are!
Our community needs an injection of 'community' without that surbiton will decline further and just become a collection a roads to somewhere else....
Comments
Kevin,Why don't you write to The Daily Mail and tell them what you think of the opinions of their successful and educated journalists and tell them where they are going wrong, explaining why they should listen to you instead.
I don't read that paper.A lot of my news comes from all over the world straight from source through a sattelite system which I myself set up so I am able to form my own opinions by listening to other cultures in their own languages. I myself am multi lingual.
I work in a multicultural company which supplies fresh African produce daily to British supermarkets. Many of the staff including my boss are black and of the Islamic faith and we have a strong mutual respect for one another.
I, together with my neighbours do not continually behind locked doors and I live a very good life indeed in the fresh air down here. And there are not cars parked nose to tail in all the roads.There is lots of space in which to move about and the houses are a lot cheaper than in Surbiton. So there is more money to spare for the good things in life.
Well then, best we agree to disagree.
I will continue to live happilly in a vibrant, expanding, multicultural commnity with low crime, excellent employment and safe enviroment.
And you can live behind a locked door, in your crime ridden world believing every Daily Mail Headline.....Mmmm the media has alot to answer for......
Their crime rate is high because they are all allowed to carry guns and they have violence rammed down their throats through every kind of media, the same kind which is sold over here and which is having such a dramatic influence on our society nationwide.
While you or your relatives as yet have not become victims of this violence it is only a matter of time, then you may take a different view.
No I do not live in Surbiton and would not wish to. I used to visit regularly until my mother died in 1985. Since then it has become even worse and if you think it is a nice place then visit Rustington to get an idea of how Surbiton used to be. Surbiton bears no resemblance to what it was just twenty years ago let alone thirty five years ago when I moved to Horsham. Then I worked in West London which was a very tolerable and attractive area, especially around Richmond and Kew. That was when new houses were around £10000 and houses in Horsham were £5000. You have no idea of how the quality of life has changed around you so you cannot share my point of view. I have my own very personal opinions about what has wrecked British society best kept to myself.
Capital punishment?!
As someone who has spent alot of time in the United States, please explain to me why their crime rate is so high.
No one has the right to kill another no matter what they have done, and by saying so you are no better than them yourself.
But we digress from the issue, for heavens sake Surbiton is a safe and beautiful place to live, am I right in saying you don't!
Perhaps if you did you would see what a wonderful place this is.........
We live in the 21st. century where innocent people are beheaded on tv and children kill people with guns, and men prey on young children. This century is no different to any other and we are no more civilised than before, just more stupid to believe that we are. Wars, rape, and murder continue as before with an increasing regularity, and people believe we must be understandig and help the perpetuators because that is the civilised approach. Meanwhile the criminals just laugh in our faces. It will take another million years of evolution to improve humanity, but we will probably destroy the earth and everything on it beforehand.
That is why we must correct things now with corporal and capital punishment. When one has a cancer it has to be cut out and destroyed if one is to survive.You don't talk to it in a nice way! Being Mr.Nice dose not work anymore. Filling up prisons at the tax payers expense does not solve anything either. Hard lessons have been learnt for being too soft and hard lessons must be taught again.
I agree with you ,we all have a responsibility to our local community, unfortunately these chavs have no desire to obey the law and feel no responsibility to their neighbours.
As for contacting our MP - Ed Davey (Lib Dem)!! What would he do? Start a leaflet campaign? Do a rain dance!! He’d probably accuse me of being elitist and picking on children!!
We have to introduce a zero tolerance policy to deal with these thugs and make our town safe for law abiding residents.
Thankfully we live in the 21st century!
I am a 35 year old man, who is very "street wise" I have lived in many parts of the country, from sleepy Devon to central Bristol and even sunny Brighton. I can only talk from my own experience, I have never experienced a single problem in Surbiton, but I was once attacked in the street in Torquay!
The incident talked of was an isolated one and could have happened anywhere.
I feel very safe living in Surbiton, and I often have to walk through the town in the early hours of the morning.
Thankfully I know that the silent majority who live here agree with me.
I will however agree with you that even one isolated incident is one too many. These people are the seeds of the Thatcher generation, a fact that many seem to forget, home life is at the heart of this problem, so lets stop putting our heads in the sand and blaming everyone but ourselves!
A few bad eggs Kevin!
Are you street wise? Do you get about enough? Face up to the truth.
There were always thugs of one sort or another but never so many of the cowardly calibre such as have been reported here. But of course we must be moderate and understanding in the way we treat them. That will stop them.
Once there was no need for a neighbourhood watch. Once one "Bobby" was enough to keep order.
No Kevin, What these types need is for a few very well built prison guards to strap them over a wooden frame and give them the "Cat of Nine Tails" until the little cowards cry for mercy, just like it was in the old days when crime was low. And murderers? Hang them just like in the old days.
Those little cowards could have killed that young man.
Yes this is terrible, sadly when you get too may of us living in one place there will be a few bad eggs!
I say again though Surbiton is a very safe place to live, with a very low level of crime, and hopefully this will get better soon with the arrival of our own Police team...isn't it great to see them walking the streets every day.
But you are obviously still concerned, so what are you doing about it? Have you written to our MP? Have you started neighbourhood watch scheme in your area? Are you joining up as a Special Constable?
We all have a responsibility to our local community......
A mob of twenty teenagers beat up a boy near Alexandra Park in Berrylands.
The 15-year-old was walking in the park with two friends when the mob demanded money from him. After he refused them the gang knocked him to the ground and proceeded to surround and attack him.
Before leaving him, ten pounds were stolen from him. The boy lost a tooth and was taken to Kingston Hospital by ambulance for treatment.
Say no more......
Buntyman and Kevin,
The so called nuvo middle class people of Surbiton and elswhere don't like living side by side with a social situation which they and their parents and successive governments have helped to create.Whose fault is it that property prices are as high as they are and congestion is what it is? Whose fault is it that this low class of person they speak of is lurking around every street corner?
The cost of survival in modern day Britain is just too high and there are too many people out there being driven to desperate measures to get by from day to day.
True, Surbiton can never be what it once was but you would have to have lived through and witnessed the change to really understand what I mean. Even the poorest residents did not beg and harass people in those days and they had a high degree of respectability. I know because I was taught amongst and played with kids from those families. They in turn taught me to value the smallest pleasures in life. In so many ways they were better off than me.
I am left speachless by Mr Buntymans response, where is he living?
Quite frankly his comments speak for themselves, I do not wish to live a town full of biggots, thank God every one is not like him!
What are these?
Surbiton is no longer the quintessential suburb as portrayed in The Good Life. Now the town centre is a festering nest of chavs and proles who think that they live in South Central LA walking around feigning imaginary gunshot injuries. Just go to the Somerfield's supermarket. There you can see 16 year old chav mums stocking up on Diamond White and Mr Kipling cakes for themselves, their kids, and their grandkids. Just a few yards away is Surbiton station, where the electronic barriers are manned by burly ticket collectors who spend their entire shift hearing abuse from baseball capped oiks insisting they "lost their ticket, innit", whilst outside the station pale faced drug addicts with hoods (CCTV, innit) peddle used Travelcards for £2.
We need a zero tolerance policy to clean up the town centre and make it much more attractive to middle class families to spend their evenings there.
Nobody is disagreeing that Surbiton isn't changing, least of all me, my point is that it's changing because of the total lack of will of the people of Surbiton.
My neighbours are happy to sit back and believe the headlines, believe Surbiton has yobs roaming the streets, and that it's unsafe to go out at night.
This is not the case now but will be if people don't get out and use Surbiton, not just drive through it!
Since my last posting I have been looking out for these elements that everyone keeps on going on about, and guess what I've found...
1. Inconsiderate drivers unwilling to stop at crossings and driving far too fast.
2. Charity collectors doing there best to annoy, herass and generally get in the way.
3. Dog owners letting thier beloved pets foul the footpaths.
5. A McDonolds Cup being thrown into my garden.
Thats it, not violent mugging, car break-ins or murders, the majority problems have been caused by the wonderful people of Surbiton. The non voting whingers who go on this site and run the town down. If you don't like living here then stop moaning and leave, or get out of your armchairs and have a look around!
We have a diverse town full of wonderfull people, most of whome wouldn't recognise the town that is portrayed in this forum.
[quote]Our community needs an injection of 'community' without that surbiton will decline further and just become a collection a roads to somewhere else....[/quote]
LOL! Glad you agree it's in decline, Kevin.
Well there are no excuses about not being able to read the small print there.
Come on people of Surbiton! Kevin is right. Get yourselves a user name and a password and join in these wonderful debates and have some fun while helping to break down barriers within the community. Not only does this flex the mind but it also enhances your keyboard skills, powers of communication, and vocabulary, in a way that burying your head in the paper on the 8.15 to Waterloo and or staring at Eastenders can never do.
This is the problem with the British who are losing their powers of speech and coherent conversation which are rapidly going the way of common courtesy and pride in appearance.
Have a nice weekend, Pete.