Now all of them have gone - apparently removed by someone with bolt cutters. The Council have assured me they can be replaced relatively quickly, but one aspect of the Council's response to this problem does worry me - they don't seem to have reported the criminal damage to the police and obtained a crime number.
When I follow up problems like this with the police, the usual response I get back is that they haven't had any reports so don't think there is a problem. I always encourage local residents to report all incidents of crime or anti-social behaviour (even if it frequently doesn't look like anything is being done in response to these reports...), so it is particularly disappointing that the Council itself doesn't seem to be following this advice. I hope incidents like this are rare, but when they do happen, I hope the Council will in future not just spend taxpayers money fixing the problem without reporting it to the police to investigate.
2 comments:
And what about replacing the slide/climbing frame at Cherry Hinton Hall that was burnt down over a year ago? Oh yes, and the train in Cherry Hinton recreation ground...
Over the past 20 years I've found that places where I used to play with friends as a child have now been locked up.
We used to play football at Morley School until someone put big gates up there alongside a sign that says playing unauthorised games is an offence under the 1996 Education Act (or something like it).
Homerton College - where we used to play football and go apple and blackberry picking (and locals used to go dog walking) is now out of bounds.
The playing fields on Sedley Taylor Road (that we always used to call "Luard Road" - some of us still do) is now under lock and key.
I'll be watching how "The Big Society" evolves, like a hawk.
Post a Comment