After all the hard work and effort put in by a team of volunteers to spruce up Alderley Edge this year, local residents who were up and about early this morning were disappointed to see the destruction caused overnight.
Planters had been knocked over and broken, plants pulled out of the them and strewn down the village, hanging baskets torn down with the contents flung everywhere along with broken glass and the bench by the Royal Bank had been pushed over.
Councillor Christine Munro, who was out walking her dog early, said "How can we stop this? A resident who I met in the village suggested charging all the bars for the clean up as it was obviously done by drunks."
Following Cllr Munro's report of vandalism in the village overnight, Councillor Geoff Hall went down to London Road to see the damage this morning and reported the incident has been reported to the police who have undertaken to review the CCTV, which covers the whole of London Road.
Councillor Geoff Hall said "Incidents of vandalism in the village are relatively rare, but always upsetting. It is clearly unacceptable to have residents from the village working hard during the day to make the village more attractive, only to have bars serve drunks who vandalise the village late at night.
"The damage has been done not only to Parish Council planters, but also to pots and hanging baskets paid for by other businesses in the village, who have a right to expect their efforts to be respected.
"In addition to the vandalism there is vomit on the pavement. We look to all the bars in the village to play their part in stopping this kind of antisocial behaviour."
Geoff Hall added "I have just seen a stream of emails from members of the Alderley Edge in Bloom group who are already on their way into the village to set about cleaning up."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
We found the box ball taken from the planter outside the Royal Bank Of Scotland across the road thrown over the fence, down the slope on land next to Waitrose and the railway. It's now been replanted and the planter tidied.
The hanging basket strewn over the pavement by Margaret Dabbs will need new chains and replanting.
It was heartening whilst clearing up to have so many people stop and express their shock and horror at the events of last night.
We are hopeful that the village CCTV may have captured the culprits and they can be identified.
If you live in and around the village our group welcomes new volunteers to help us from time to time. Many hands make light work! Apart from regular litter picking we will be planting bulbs very soon and putting up some new planters on the railings by Waitrose.
Please contact either our Chair, Leslie Cox email:- or Secretary, Christine Munro email:-
It's my guess this has been done by people / yobs who have no respect for our village and I suspect it will have been done by mindless idiots who do not live here ?
I just hope the CCTV was working and the culprits are recognised and apprehended, and, hopefully, given a prison sentence ???
(although the leniency shown by some courts results in these scum being released with a slap on the wrist .....but NOT if I had anything to do with their sentencing) !!
Keep the faith , Christine , Leslie and co ... We all appreciate what you do x
( yes I am aware a similar situation occurred a few years ago )
Whilst it is difficult to stop the acts of the moronic few I think the late night drinking establishments should self police those cliental that have clearly consumed too much.
Alderley has become a ‘tourist ‘ destination over the weekend and whilst this is great for the Bars and Restaurants the dynamics of the Village have changed.
As suggested in previous comments a bobby or two at the weekend wouldn’t go amiss....
As the Chair of Alderley Edge in Bloom I think I can speak for the volunteers when I say we are not focusing on this one negative event but rather on all the positive support we get; the frequent praise the village gets from residents we talk to as we are working in the village, the support we get from the businesses who pay for hanging baskets, who sweep the pavement in the early morning, who water planters and who buy additional tubs and planters to enhance their own premises, the support we get from Waitrose who help so much with our summer watering, and from Tesco who donated money to the hanging baskets outside charity shops.
Walking in the village we can all see the investment businesses like the Bubble Room, the Alchemist, Alderley Grill, the De Trafford Arms, Fiorucci, Michael Chapman and others make
to enhancing their premises with attractive planting throughout the year.
The damage on Saturday night was cleared up and is gone. The village is tidy once again and we as volunteers are more determined than ever to make the village more attractive for residents and visitors.
As a volunteer for 'Alderley In Bloom' I've been personally heartened to see the tangible and generous support of the local business community, including the village bars and restaurants.
We've cleared up the mess, dusted down and look forward with enthusiasm to planting more bulbs soon and installing new planters on the railings above the Waitrose Car Park. Onwards and upwards for Alderley In Bloom and the village!
We welcome anyone with a few hours to spare now and then to join us. The small efforts of a few can contribute to an amazing result!
Please, simply get in touch if you would like to enhance the village, meet like-minded people and have some fun along the way.
Please contact either our Chair, Leslie Cox email:- or our Secretary, Christine Munro email:- .
Working together we can achieve so much.
Walking my dogs at night became a real challenge; jeered at By drunks outside bats etc... rubbish all down George Street and South Street.
It’s sad to feel unsafe in your own village.
Could those 'in authority' let us know please as to whether or not there is CCTV evidence of the scum?
By the way, does the Parish Council still pay towards the CCTV costs? In which case, would we not like to hear about 'our' CCTV catchng the scum?
Congrats to those who worked to 'put it right'.
Im sure you will share in the disappointment of hearing the pictures were apparently 'not clear enough for the police to identify anyone.'
I'm reliably informed the Parish Council pays just under £6,000 per annum for the service and has done so since 2014.
Henry Johnstone's CCTV identified there were seven youths heading up London Road towards the village CCTV camera positioned by The Royal Bank Of Scotland.
I wonder if the Village CCTV is fit for night time recording purposes? I'd imagine this is being questioned now and assurances sought that the system is fit for purpose.
It may be there have been successes for the Police in identifying criminals over the 3 years of the systems operation. It could be a discreet crime deterrent. With £18,000 spent over the last 3 years you would hope its delivered value.
http://bit.ly/1qLectE
I was one of the P.C. that voted to pay towards the CCTV. At the time it seemed a good idea. There was to be, for instance, 'immeiate response'.
Later on, the service involved got less, for instance, no longer 'immediate response' and the cost went up, so (if I recall correctly) we reduced the commitment.
The lack of usable images now, suggests that the service has gotten yet less worthwhile.
Perhaps it is time to re-visit the commitment?