The level of vandalism and anti social behaviour occurring in and round the new Meadows development is extremely disappointing. I have been working closely with local residents, the police and the city council who are responsible for the development and South Cambridgeshire district council who lead on community safety partnership work.

I have spoken to the police repeatedly to provide information to urge them to tackle rising anti social behaviour before it gets completely out of control. Below is a response from the city council who have been working hard to find solutions. Please do get in touch with me at any time about this.

City Council response.

Lighting Bollards

These are due to be replaced imminently with more robust solution. Ground Workers are onsite over the next couple of weeks preparing the bases.

Graffiti on Skate Park

This was reported to the police by colleagues and residents in Dykes Bower Court as it happened. It was removed by the Council last week.

Vandalised Trees

These will be replaced by the Council at the right time. As many of you will be aware, the replacement trees by the café were further vandalised and had to be removed. We therefore need to consider the right timing for replacements to reduce the risk of further damage to the new trees.

Vandalised Play Areas and Fencing

We have agreed that the best way forward is to open up the fencing as soon as possible to encourage more use by the public and hopefully reduce anti-social behaviour. There has been a delay getting the last piece of play equipment built. Once this has been completed there will be a ROSPA inspection then we will open the fencing up. If the grass has not grown sufficiently, then it will be Hill’s responsibility to rectify that over the next year before the Council agrees to take on maintenance.

ASB in General

After the graffiti incident last week, officers in the Council including myself, the Community Centre Manager, Community Development and Community Safeguarding colleagues had a meeting to discuss the ongoing issues. Actions being taken by the Council include:

1. Several of the young people are being served with Behavioural Contracts by the Council this week.

2. The community centre team have been logging every incident that they are aware of with the police. They have now been approached by the Local Area Officer and have his direct contact to raise incidents with (hopefully) real time response.

3. The same Police Officer is holding ‘Coffee with a Cop’ sessions at the following times, so residents can come and speak to him directly.

Meadows Community centre – 18^th June, 13:30-15:00

Campkin Road Community Centre- 19^th June, 14:00-15:30

4. The Council has set up a multi-service meeting with South Cambs, County Council and the Police in the next couple of weeks to come up with a joint plan on how to deal with the continued anti-social behaviour in the area, which crosses ward boundaries. This meeting will cover preventative measures such as early engagement, as well as measures for dealing with incidents as they happen.

We are working towards a deadline for the remaining park works to be completed by the end of June, so I will arrange a face to face meeting around then where we can discuss the completion of works and ongoing maintenance, as well as all the subjects listed above.