Action finally being taken to tackle 'anti-social behaviour'

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Cheshire East Council are finally taking steps to resolve problems caused by 'anti-social behaviour' in one of the town centre car parks which has been going on for years.

Mrs Humphreys who lives in the centre of Wilmslow attended the Town Council meeting on Monday, 16th May, to ask for their assistance in resolving issues with South Street car park which she has been experiencing for the past 8 years.

She explained "The main problem is the anti-social behaviour. The car park is used for skateboarding, racing cars, smoking all sorts of different things and constantly playing loud music which keeps my family and people that live quite nearby awake.

"They set off fire alarms as well quite frequently, unfortunately the company that manages it takes an hour and a half to come and switch it off at best, sometimes its longer than that - it's been going for 5 hours in the past.

"The car park is also open until 10 o'clock at night so that behaviour can carry on until 10 o'clock at night and it is not actually closed off beyond 10 o'clock so they can still gain access later on at night."

Cllr Gary Barton explained that he has been working with colleagues in Cheshire East Council to try and resolve these issues.

Speaking at the meeting he said "There was a fault with the alarm, there was a faulty sensor and that's now been fixed so it's not erroneously going off. The problem we have now is, as you mentioned, people going there and smoking things they shouldn't be and those sensors are being triggered by that smoke. So Cheshire East is looking at changing the type of sensor so it won't be triggered by cigarette smoke or what might not be cigarette smoke.

"They are currently also doing the work they need to do to provide barriers or shutters for the site. They are looking, certainly once the hours of operation are finished, to prevent access for cars because that's one of the main draws - people looking to race the cars as it's quite a large car park. So if we can prevent access for cars it would mean fewer people would congregate there, that's the hope.

"It won't stop everybody though which is why we're looking at shutters which might prevent people getting in, though we have to be careful as we don't want to trap anybody in the car park.

"There is a security firm that patrols the site, allegedly six times a night. I have asked the Council to look into how that patrols aligned. How we can get them to patrol not just when it's closed but around 9.30 - 10 o'clock at night when it might not be closed but still needs to patrolled and how they can liaise with the police."

He added "I think if we attended two or three times with full police it would again be a less attractive venue for people to congregate."

Other issues raised included the lack of screening which the Council has addressed by arranging to have some trees planted but they are only about 2 metres in height so Cllr Barton is requesting larger plants and will also look at whether Wilmslow Town Council can provide additional funding because, although it is a Cheshire East property, it would help make Wilmslow look more attractive.

There is also a problem with headlights shining through into some of the bedrooms of neighbouring properties so the Council is going to replace slotted barriers with a solid barrier.

Cllr Barton added "I've also asked the Council to look at CCTV funding to try and monitor the site. Having it permanently patrolled is not likely to be a realistic option but having it permanently monitored may be possible so I've asked Cheshire East to add the car park to their CCTV coverage for the town centre. The Town Council provides a large amount of money to fund CCTV so I think its not something unreasonable for us to ask. They could at least fund the installation and maybe this Town Council contributes to the running costs in future."

Cllr Barton explained he is raising these issues with the Portfolio Holder and other senior members of the Council adding "If this was a property owned by any other company we would be taking a strong line of action so its not acceptable for us to be slack with our own buildings which I think has happened so now the action seems to be happening to remedy this. It won't happen instantly but the wheels are turning and I will keep an eye on it and I just apologise it has gone on so long."

Councillor Barton also agreed to request that the Council reviews whether the car park needs to be open until 10pm.

Tags:
Cheshire East Council, South Street Car Park, Wilmslow Town Council
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Stuart Redgard
Wednesday 25th May 2016 at 1:20 pm
I have personally witnessed the officers from Cheshire Constabulary drive around the car park on at least two separate occasions between 7 and 9pm. They are doing the best they can with the limited resources they have. It is a Cheshire East Council property and it is their responsibility to secure and monitor the site. Not the police.
Terry Roeves
Thursday 26th May 2016 at 6:51 pm
Transfer car park income directly to WTC and hire appropriate staff to manage all aspects of car park.
Add to it the other concerns that Wilmslow residents have, like litter and pavements and we could have a core team focussed on Civic Pride 24/7
Simply get the money back from CEC and let's deal with it.
I have a strong feeling that WTC would do this far far better than CEC ever have or ever will. WTC deserve far more trust.