Problem shelter won’t be sealed of
TOWN councillors have defiantly agreed not to seal off a town centre bus shelter, which some allege is being used as a ‘drugs hut’.
Discussing a complaint from a resident over the state the Shaw Croft bus shelter is being left in at last week’s virtual meeting, members concluded that any criminal misuse of the structure was a police matter and not a subject for them.
Closing it off, councillors agreed, would be unfair for the genuine users of the shelter, who wait in it during the day for Ashbourne Community Transport buses.
But the complaint, which was received by email, has been endorsed since the meeting by Ashbourne’s group of volunteer litter-pickers, kers, Proud of Ashbourne, which hich is constantly tidying ying litter – including ng drugs parapher- nalia – from the shelter and is also calling for something to be done.
With a clear undertone of frustration, Denise Brown focused d on the evidence e of drugs misuse and d diss a p tha pu shoul rep anti-social behaviour to the town council - which owns the shelter - but to the police.
She said: “I feel sorry for this person, it’s a nuisance. It’s a public nuisance and it’s disorderly conduct. But they really should have phoned the police. Yes we own the bus shelter, but I do think that people should be encouraged to report things that are wrong to the police - rather than the owners of whatever is being defaced or misused.
“The bus shelter is always being used by people waiting for community transport. We can’t lock it overnight and this is a recent thing. The police need to grow a pair and take people that are doing something wrong into custody and put the frighteners on them in my opinion.
“They’re running riot at the moment and Ashbourne is not a nice place to be after dark.”
The councillors will now look into the local CCTV camera network, to see if access can be obtained to the nearest camera, and they will also look into putting up a sign informing users of the bus shelter they are being watched.
They will be writing in reply to the correspondent who complained about the shelter’s misuse, emphasising their message to report all crimes and disorder to the police at the earliest opportunity.
Councillor Sue Bull said in the meeting that this was the best way to highlight local problems. “Obviously people see these things happening, and they should be reporting it to the police, because the more it gets reported, the more it goes down as a crime issue.
“The police can see it escalating, and they will get fed up of each complaint going in and they will actually do something.
“The police can request to see the CCTV coverage, but they won’t request to see it if they don’t know something is happening. There’s no use shouting after the horse has bolted.
“We can’t lock it, so I think it’s a case of when people see something happening, that is the time to get in touch with the police, rather than reiterate to us what they should and shouldn’t be doing.
They are running riot and the town is not a nice place to be after dark.
Denise Brow order in the shelter and pointed out that the public should not be reporting