COLTON NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
• NEWS
• USEFUL INFORMATION
(Phone Numbers etc.)
• YOUR COMMENTS
(Resident feedback & ideas)
NEWS
Tues 26th April 2005
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH MEETING - COLTON
METHODIST CHURCH
A hastily arranged residents meeting attracted
around 100 Colton people packed into the Methodist Church on Tuesday
night. The turnout surprised the organisers, who underestimated
the anger among residents, resulting in a lot of people standing
& listening near the door.
The meeting was generally constructive, but
understandably a few people where very angry & frustrated by
the threats & vandalism in the area from roaming youths.
It was a chance to meet the Community Police
officers and other people trying to deal with the problem in Colton,
a chance for residents to air their views & also to find out
what can be done to combat the problem.
The issues with the youths are as follows:
• Drinking on the street (many are underage)
• Vandalism (including £7000 worth of damage to Colton
Institute)
• Threats (including taking money from children)
• Swearing & noise levels
• Cannabis (using & dealing)
• Litter (mostly beer bottles & MacDonald’s packing)
The police tell us that most of the children on the street are not
involved in any kind of actual criminal activity, although many
are creating anti social behaviour issues.
They have the name of 114 youths, of which 90% are from Colton.
At the moment the police are issuing ‘Acceptable Behaviour
Contracts’ which gives youths guidelines on what is acceptable
behaviour although this isn’t legally binding.
The police are also gathering data in regard
to issuing ASBO’s to the repeat offenders & those considered
to be the hardcore element of the groups.
There is also consideration to implementing a ‘Section 30’
order which effectively creates a curfew after a certain time.
It was agreed by residents that the root
of the problem lies with the parents – they simply don’t
know (& don’t seem to care) where their children are on
a night.
The police told us that they issued 30 letters to the parents of
the offending youths, asking them to come down & speak to the
police to try to sort the problem out – NOT ONE PARENT REPLIED
TO THE LETTER.
Residents also agreed that the reason for the escalation of the
problem coincided with the building of the fast food outlets on
Bullerthorpe Lane where the youths meet up.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
The police are already stretched with their
resources & highlighted that they are trying their best to combat
the problem over & above their normal workload.
Colton residents therefore need to flex their combined muscle &
help out.
It was noted that Sainsbury’s & McDonalds’ weren’t
particularly interested in the trouble they are inadvertently creating
& tended to blame others, siting that it is out of their control.
• What we need to do is to send individual letters to these
companies, highlighting the problems – giving THEM a problem
by hassling them on mass & asking them to give something back
to the community that fuels their businesses.
• Boycott these businesses –
money talks, and if they are losing out then they WILL sit up
& listen
• We need to log incidents that happen
in a diary, identify youths, times, dates etc.
• Ring the police incident number
every time there is a problem – we need to create a blip.
• Most importantly – WE NEED
TO STICK TOGETHER.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Police Incident Line: 0845 606 0606
YOUR COMMENTS
Comments and stories from Colton
Residents
On 12 September I spotted some teenagers
trying to set fire to one of the bus shelters in Colton. I went
over to try to stop them, but just got the usual (unimaginative)
abuse back from them. I called to police on 0845 6060606 who decided
it was urgent enough to put through to the control room. Within
five minutes the police were there, and they scared off the teenagers.
I approached the police and showed them where a cigarette lighter
was that was thrown at me. This cigarette lighter had fingerprints
on, and the police took it away for evidence
Despite what the press say, the police do
take this mindless vandalism seriously, and I urge people to
call the police if they see any. The Police turned up very quickly,
and even if they don't catch people straight away, just having them
here makes it harder for the vandals, and they will move on.
On a final point, I think these kids are
local, so I urge parents to consider what their kids are up to in
the early evening, especially if they come home smelling of burning
plastic!
Anonymous Colton resident.
I
don't really see what the problem is with the shops, or how it's
Sainsbury's or McDonald's fault or whatever. Surely if the kids
have summat to do like go sit in McDonalds, they won't be loitering
in bus stops looking threatening.
Vikki C
Reply by ColtonVillage.com
Hi
Vikki, Thanks for your comments.
A few valid points, but the evidence points to the fact that Colton
didn't have this anti social behaviour problem until McDonalds opened.
I would be interested to know what you think would sort this issue
out.
Graham
Are
these kids from Colton, or are they coming from Halton ? My friend
that's always lived round here says kids come from Halton moor to
hang around here.
Obviously the biggest issue is that they're doing it cos they've
nowt better to do, it's boredom mainly. I was a good kid at home
when I was little, but my family would bowl in a league every Wednesday,
so we'd be at the alley from about 4pm til 11-ish, and me and my
sister would get so bored, we'd only find bad things to do. Obviously
we didn't go setting things on fire at 8 years old, we just used
to climb on things and throw wet bog roll at the ceiling and stuff,
but the reason we did it was just because we were bored. Not that
it makes it ok, but that's why. So if kids have things to do, they
don't usually have time to do anything bad. And if not that then
it's summat a lot more deep-rooted like their upbringing, which
I'm not sure any of us can do anything about !
Vikki C
Reply by ColtonVillage.com
Hi
Vikki,
McDonalds & the other buildings near Sainsbury’s roundabout
were built 2 years ago.
Yes, I agree, the reason that there is an antisocial behaviour problem
is that the kids have nothing better to do.
Not sure if you’ve read the notes regarding the meeting Colton
residents had with the police but they say that 90% of the youths
they apprehend are from Colton.
They also said the root of the problem was with the parents.
I know the people that run the Institute & they actually tried
to start a youth club (which is what the Institute originally did
when it first opened).
The youth club didn’t last very long as it just became a place
to drink alcohol & smoke dope for the kids.
Graham
|
