It has come to my attention in the recent weeks that there has been a significant increase in anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the village park. Groups of youths have been congregating causing damage to the flowers, the fences and leaving unsightly litter around for others to clean up.
On the weekend of the 1st of May I went into the park after dark with 3 colleagues and found a group of youths, all of which were drinking underage, the alcohol was seized and disposed of and all of their names and addresses were taken which then go on a system for letters to be sent home to the parents.
Upon further inspection I found what could only be described as a camp site set up at the rear of the tennis courts complete with half lit barbecues, food and all sorts of other rubbish. On this occasion, all of the youths were present and were given the choice to clear up the mess or face a £30 fine for littering, so the mess was cleared up.
It became apparent that over the coming months as the weather gets nicer this may become a common theme which is why I am in the process of setting up methods to prevent this sort of behaviour.
One of my priorities is to set up an operation which is solely based on targeting anti social behaviour in Alderley Edge which, depending on the success is able to run over a matter of weeks. Police Officers and Special Constables will assist me in the running of this.
I have also been in contact with Cheshire East Council with regards to requesting help from the Community Wardens who are able to assist me with tasks such as cleaning litter. Making use of their CCTV vans is also another method that could be put in place to prevent ASB.
A more drastic option which has been discussed is fitting a Mosquito into the park, a device which emits a high pitched sound which can only be heard by young people up to a certain age. Obviously this is an option very much in its infancy; however, it gives you an idea of the systems that we can use.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me by email, or on 0845 458 6374, should you have any queries or local issues.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Seems like these youths need more than a warning to stop them ruining our family friendly public spaces.
I won't suggest anyone confront them directly but we should all work with Rebecca and the Police to deter these youths from continuing to abuse our village.
I would like to know if the youths are all from the village, the frequency of reports and the source of the alcohol.
I would suggest that in addition to patrols you consider surveillance of the approach to the park to see if/where the youths are purchasing alcohol. Is it a coincidence that a new source of cheap alcohol appeared on London Road a few months ago and there has been a corresponding rise in anti-social behaviour?
I am in no way condoning underage drinking, but yet again we are dealing with the symptom and not the cause. Yes we need to take a VERY heavy hand against anyone selling or giving alcohol to underage drinkers. But maybe the Parish Council should arrange for the a party in the park on a monthly basis where our children can have some good clean "supervised" fun.
In fact next time you catch these people get them along with Rebecca Woolley to arrange the "Party in the Park". So instead of CCTV and fitting a Mosquito, we interact with the youths and have them become part of the community not against it.
They are moved on when they hang out on street corners, they are not welcome at Wilmslow Leisure Centre, the youth discos at the Festival Hall were stopped and most parents will not have them in their house.
As parents and residents we need to provide care, shelter and entertainment for these youths.
2. The leisure centres are open till the evenings, why they decided to hang around outside and not engage in sports inside?
3. Would a monthly party in the park resolved these ASB?
4. Would you allow that kind of behaviour in your own home?
Of course I would not allow that kind of behavior in my own home. We are not talking about it taking place in anyones home or street, but in a totally underutilised and badly maintained "PUBLIC" park.
As Diane said, "They are moved on when they hang out on street corners, they are not welcome at Wilmslow Leisure Centre, the youth discos at the Festival Hall were stopped and most parents will not have them in their house."
So can we have constructive suggestions as to what we should allow our sons and daughters from Alderley Edge to do?
As I mentioned in an earlier e-mail to a member of the public, the idea of a mosquito is an extreme one and is not something that I would be keen on using unless necessary which, in this instance I don't think it is. I mentioned it to give people an insight into the options that are available to me. My core duty is to respond to local issues and complaints and to think of ways to resolve them, if anyone has any ideas of their own then please contact me as I would be more than happy to work with the community.
I will be holding my Police drop in on London Road at 10am on 22/05/10, if anyone would like to come and have a chat then please stop by and say hello.
The Leisure Centre run a youth sports evening every Friday from 7pm-9pm where youths are welcome.
The first thing most people suggest is sports for the teenagers to do. The main thing missed here is that they want somewhere they can meet socially and not always sports based. I don't agree with lighting fires etc in the park, but at the moment there are very few opportunities for them to just be teenagers.If they are having the police called everytime they meet up on the parks then where are they supposed to go.
I have been looking into sorting out a youth group type club for them, and instead of getting support from the community, most of the comments have been really negative and people say "why bother". I know not all of them are angels, they will act out and do things they are not supposed to.
I'm glad it has been pointed out that not all the trouble is being caused by people who live in the village. Most of the teenagers we have living here are really lovely, try saying hello once in a while, they feel just as intimidated walking past people drinking and smoking outside various bars and restaurants in the village as you do walking through the park.
Most other estates in the county have youth activities, it seems that because the kids in Alderley aren't causing enough trouble they don't get anything organised for them. Shame really as it looks like they are being punished for being good and the others are rewarded for causing trouble.
If you don't want to hear children playing then don't buy a house next to a park or a school.
The bins are emptied once a week (Tuesday I think). This week, some of the bins were already over-flowing again by Thursday. The parish council have approached Cheshire East to see if there can be either more bins or bigger bins.
The parish council have talked with our PCSO (Rebecca) and our new police Inspector (Matt Welsted) and asked that the park is patrolled in the late evenings...by the way, you directly pay approx. half the PCSO's salary, so if you see any litter-louts or just plain louts (of whatever age) don't risk your own safety, 'phone for the police (0845 458 6374) or Rebecca (0845 458 0000) and demand that they attend straight away.
The other complaint is vandalism; my own view is that we happily don't get too much overt vandalism in the park; one new unfortunate trend is making holes in the fence between the railway line and the children's play areas...it would be bad enough if a dog escaped onto the railway line but the thought of a young child doing that is just too horrid; all such stupid vandalism has been immediately reported to Cheshire East and effective repairs have been carried out straight away...please be aware and report any gaps/holes at once. The parish council are trying to find out who owns/is responsible for the fence and hope eventually to have the whole fence strengthened.
Hope you are enjoying the brand new tennis courts; the parish council got Macc. Boro. Council to pay for the work as a parting 'present' before MBC ceased to exist.
They were 'f' ing and blinding and generally there to cause annoyance rather than enjoy the surroundings and glorious sunshine. They left behind 3 large coke bottles (that my daughters put in the bin) but generally provoked and intimidated all who were there.
I certainly felt uncomfortable & left. It's very difficult to know what to do in these circumstances.
We need to involve young people, not exclude them. I am a little concerned that monies are already being spent monitoring these young people when it could be spent on things to include them and improve the park; for everyones pleasure and enjoyment.
Short-sightedness yet again, I am afraid and by the way Duncan, was £26,000(?) on the tennis courts, for the favoured few, money really well spent (by Alderley Ege Parish Council)? Providing something for young people who don't play tennis might have been a better idea.
I would also like to see new facilities put in place...I have talked with the C.E. officers about a basketball court and some general purpose 'fitness' facilities and having the 5-a-side area drained...but there is always difficulty in obtaining finance from the local authority...especially in these times of cuts!...the only positive suggestion about loos so far, was for the loo in the bowlers' building to be made available to the general public, but the bowlers I have discussed this with are very much not in favour of that, claiming that the loos might be at best dirtied and at worst vandalised; and who would clean/repair them?...I guess they may have a point?
As to a cafe: the parish council is (my own view here) neither for nor against the idea but would like to see where the money might come from...will Birse cough up?...would the general public approve of their council tax being spent on financing a cafe?...would C.E. cough up?...would the Trust cough up?...I don't know as I (again this is just my own view) have not seen any detailed plans/costings.
The play areas were to be painted (by Macc. Boro. Council, as was) but that proposal seems to have vanished! I do keep nagging away about it!
Am I right in believing that the existing play facilities were brought about by pressure from local people? Maybe that's the way to go again?
As to the overflowing rubbish bins; I have recently approached the C.E. officer for parks about more or bigger bins but as yet have not had a reply.
In the past 3 months I have been stopped and by ignorant police officers and PCSOs that don't even tell you their name before they accuse us of doing something that is classed as ASB. e.g we were acccused of breaking down fences, destroying the table at the park on Beech Road, thieving, and even burning down the bridge at The Carrs. Anybody that knows me can tell you i am nothing like that.
So if camping on the park or sitting on a park (made for 3-18 year olds) scares you or annoys you then tell us, there is no need for the police and all my mates are polite and if were asked would move on. The police don't make that good a job, as are pcso I have seen about 3 times since she started, and till i read the above comments i had no idea who Matt Welstead is, and none of us have ever met him.
Yes we do need something to do, and the part in the park is a good idea but that only 12 days in a year, what about the other 353 days that are left, if you want us to be off the streets then you need to talk to us, find out what we would like to do, because discussing it amongst the adults has no teen opinion in it.
With this we could discuss what there is and isn't to do and if any offence is caused by us 'youths' then it can be dealt with.
During a survey conducted by The Friends of Alderley Edge Park last year, I found the teenagers whom I approached to be interested, pleasant and polite. Their main wish was for picnic tables where they could sit together and not be constantly moved on by the PCSO.
I understand that the pavilion/bandstand was once fitted out with seats where young people and families could socialise and enjoy themselves. Perhaps removing them was an act of vandalism.
It is interesting that the bowlers "Don't favour",the loos being opened up to the general park users in case they get dirty or vandalised, so what I wonder do they call having to nip behind a tree with small children with undeveloped bladder control Are they to be denied some dignity?
Compare the maintainance costs of the bowling green, it's pavilion and 2 loos for the exclusive right by a few bowlers used occasionally, (oh!,and by the way, they recently requested a fence be buillt around it but this I think has been refused), to the long neglected football area which is unfit for purpose after heavy rain, but with some drainage could be used by many, and are they to be denied access to a loo?
I think it is incumbent upon 'we oldies' to listen, invest and respect the views of our younger generation as we wish them to respect us.
I also think that Rebecca deserves our support and thanks in her effort to target any ASB, but hope that the Mosquito will never be used.
I would also like to offer my support to Jeni - it's great to hear your thoughts and opinions. Let's hope we can move towards a positive community with a common sense, cooperative spirit and not this negative 'us and them' approach we seem to have at the moment.
I think to move forward one thing which is clear is that during rare nice summer period, there is an obvious increase in the usage of the park, then it is just logical that the bins get filled up quicker, to enable everyone to be able to dispose their rubbish properly, I do think that the bins are needed to be empty more frequently during period of fine weather, I hope the council will take note.
I do understand the protective nature of the bowling green area as many of it's member do take the sport seriously. Also I think that they do pay a membership fee to go towards the up keep and maintenance. So please consider their point of view.
With regards to the ASB and underage drinking, it is the responsibility of us all to report on these incidents when we witness the occurence. As these behaviour prevent people to enjoy the environment and damaging to our village.
The bins are currently emptied (I am told) by the chap who mows the grass, does repairs etc.This may be in addition to the weekly emptying. There were, until recently two of these chaps but now one has been made redundent; the remaining chap does his best.
2. The water-logged football pitch...some time ago Cheshire East agreed (verbally) to probably put in drainage for that area...since the financial bad times arrived, there has been no further mention of the topic; the Parish Council will continue to 'nag on' about possible drainage however.
3. The several drains along the pathways thro' the park have all recently been unblocked (several months of vegetation etc.) at the request of the Parish Council.
4. There was hope that the children's enclosed play area would be re-painted...why has it not happened? See 2. above!
The Parish Council spends a lot of time nagging away at Cheshire East's planners, parks people, finance etc. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!
As an elderley frequent dog walker through the park I do feel that more facilities for young teenagers should be provided. I have never experienced any agro from these youths and in fact many will strike up a conversation if you talk to them.
The area on the other side of the tennis courts is a total waste of space and would make an ideal barbecue and picnic facility, so why not provide grills, sitting areas and waste bins in a safe environment, as they do in many other countries, whilst still enforcing anti social patrols to keep a check on the situation.
Regards