Last week we told you on onlinefocus that the District Council had dropped any proposal for a teen shelter in Sweyne Park.
Over the weekend we received an email from a resident at the Victoria Avenue side of the park, very concerned about the issue becaue they hadn’t heard yet that the shelter idea had been dropped.
With the writers permission, we are printing the email below.
” I know you are all busy at the moment but read with horror in a friend?s copy of your newsletter that Rochford Council are again considering a Teen Shelter over on Sweyne Park. My neighbours and I all attended the Friends of Sweyne Park meeting last September where this idea was discussed and I hoped after listening to our descriptions of the appalling behaviour of teens at the park week in week out and the disruption and vandalism and general extreme youth nuisance they cause the council members present decided to drop the idea. Now I hear it is back on the cards.
As a householder who lives near to the entrance to the park in Victoria Avenue I have this week alone had to call the police three times and e-mail PC Sharp, the NPT officer, several times regarding the incidents. We have had to give up sleeping at the front of the house as we are woken almost every night in the school holidays and most weekends (once the worst of the cold weather passes ie March onwards) by:
mopeds racing up and down the road and pavement, hooting and shouting,
mopeds and motorbikes racing around and across the park itself,
large groups of yobs screaming and cheering them on or just hanging around the entrance or on our drive shouting obsceneties at the top of their voices,
parts being pulled off cars on our drives,
plant pots being smashed from our front gardens,
groups jumping over and through hedges/flower beds on our properties,
glass alcohol bottles being smashed in the road outside our houses,
wheelie bins being pulled out and emptied in the road,
groups of up to 20 loitering noisily under the lamppost at the park entrance,
groups of up to approx. 60 camping overnight, lighting fires and getting increasingly drunk and raucous,
vandalism of the local school,
smashing of fences/walls,
drunk teens racing cars???and these are only the incidents I can remember at this moment in time.
Many times these youths are very drunk, increasingly so as the night goes on, and drug paraphernalia is a common find on the ground the morning after a noisy night including used needles. All of the problems commence from dusk onwards usually although in the summer groups start meeting over there from early evening; our hearts sink when we see first five, then ten then up to 20 youths walk up the road and congregate, all carrying bags of alcohol. By midnight, two a.m, three a.m they are all incapable of leaving quietly and fight, roll and scream their way down the road waking and frightening both adults and children alike.
One boy recently had his ear badly bitten one evening, forcing the police to knock door to door last month. We must all have complained to the investigating officer as his response when I commented behaviour was atrocious most of the time over at the park in the evening was that we should all move. Hardly a helpful attitude.
I dread to think what life would be like if more teens were encouraged to come to the park by the provision of a shelter. I know it is not all young people who act this way but the standard of behaviour, just like our quality of life, has deteriorated year after year and the problems get worse. I do not hate all children! My family?s lives however are being spoilt by these problems and I would be very pleased if someone told the council what exactly goes on here week in, week out. Last summer I was driven to tears by the sheer lack of sleep every weekend and I am not looking forward to this summer. I can almost guarantee that if it is not raining or frosty there will be trouble.
I would appreciate any help or advice on this matter”
We obviously want to help , though its not easy to deal with. But as a start, council staff and Rayleigh residents will see this this morning and know exactly what’s going on.
Am I being a little naiive in thinking that this type of issue should be dealt with by our police force? For residents to suffer this kind of ordeal on an on-going basis is a shameful failure of duty. If the police have their hands tied then they should be given support from authorities to allow them to deal with the problem.
Along with ASBOs, didn’t the Government introduce Dispersal Orders that give the police powers to move people on from an area that has had an Order placed on it?
Its not good enough waiting for a resident to gather evidence, the issue has been raised and patrols should be stepped up to assess the issue and prevent the problem continuing.
Well do you really expect the police to want to deal with this. Youths of this age should be dealt with by the parents. Isn’t it about time that parents started taking responsibility for their children instead of ushering them out of the door so that the parents can enjoy a quiet life whilst their kids are out making someone else’s life hell?
Jim, I would think the police would rather not deal with this sort of issue, and I agree the parents should take responsibility. But unfortunately that’s not always easy to achieve – often you don’t know where the kids come from, so can’t approach the parents.
At my previous address I had problems with kids “just playing” outside my house. My car was getting scratched, plants broken, kids kicking balls at all hours, elderly neighbours’ fences and gates wrecked by footballs. I tried talking reasonably to the kids, with no success. I tried talking reasonably with the parents, who happened to be neighbours, and was told they were only kids playing, and that I shouldn’t own a new car if I was worried about it being damaged. The result of my efforts was that I was then targetted further – nails placed under my car tyres, balls kicked at my house etc..
This is sadly often the case, and it is in these cases that the police need to be involved. Unfortunately they tend to be uninterested, as it is often difficult to get evidence, and there is little chance of any action being taken against offenders anyway.
I firmly believe that what is required is a pro-active police presence to stop trouble starting in the first place and to be on hand to deal with any issues at an early stage. What we get is at best a re-active police response, relying on householders to gather sufficient evidence after a crime is committed. At worst we get no action at all except for a crime number to give to the insurance company when you need to have property repaired.
What I had to put up with was fairly minor in the scale of things. Damage to cars, an untidy street, frosty relations with neighbours, and restless evenings are “just” quality of life issues. It wasn’t nice but I could put up with it. When I moved to my current address the relief was palpable. However, there are plenty of stories in the national press about householders who have not faired so well when confronting trouble makers. An early police presence is essential to stop things escalating and to keep individual home owners being in the front line.