Antisocial acts after recent race meeting sparks protection plea
THERE are fears over racegoers urinating in public and on people’s homes during this year’s Cheltenham Festival after reports of such foul behaviour during a recent meeting. Significant numbers of people were seen urinating in properties along East Approach Drive during the New Year’s meet.
And Councillor Julian Tooke (LD, Pittville), who represents the area on Cheltenham Borough Council, also said there were cases of assault and criminal damage which took place along that street during race week. He has called for the community around the race course to be treated with respect and duly protected.
“Once again (during the New Year’s meet) we saw significant numbers of people urinating on the lawns and garages of East Approach Drive,” he said. “Within the last year, we have also seen cases of assault and criminal damage taking place on that street during Race Week.
“I have repeatedly asked Chris Nelson, the Police and Crime Commissioner, as the most senior elected politician responsible for policing in the county, and the leadership of the Jockey Club, to protect this specific street as well as other Pittville neighbourhoods impacted by the race-goers.
“It is the responsibility of the leadership of the police and The Jockey Club, working with Gloucestershire County Council and Cheltenham Borough Council, to maintain public order around large scale events. Overall, the Cheltenham Races are great for the town but the community around the race course needs to be treated with respect and duly protected.”
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Evans, who attended the recent briefing on plans to reduce the impact on the community during Festival week, said he knows the Jockey Club and Constabulary have listened to the concerns raised about East Approach Drive and have plans to increase visibility in the area during the 2024 Festival.
“This was mentioned in the meeting that Cllr Tooke and I attended a few weeks ago,” he said.
“However, I think it’s also important to look at the progress that is being made. After the first Cheltenham Festival of his term of office, Chris Nelson got a grip of the situation and brought everyone involved in the Festival together and asked them to put together a plan to address the disgusting scenes that we are all too familiar with.”
He said that meeting led to the Love our Turf camping led by the Jockey Club and supported by the police and local authorities to encourage racegoers to be responsible visitors to the county. He said there will be an increased number of police officers on patrol during the festival and 50 extra Jockey Club staff to help direct racegoers to the many toilets placed along the route. A Cheltenham Racecourse spokesperson said they are passionate about the role they play in the community and strive to have a positive impact. They said they will continue to work closely with stakeholders including Gloucestershire Constabulary and Cheltenham Business Improvement District and the council while using the learnings of last year’s festival.
“We recognise and appreciate that while the many thousands of visitors to our racecourse throughout the year, including 250,000 people over the four days of the Cheltenham Festival in March, deliver significant economic benefit to the local area there are also associated challenges,” a spokesperson said.
“Antisocial behaviour of any kind should never be tolerated and that’s why we launched the ‘Love Our Turf’ initiative in 2023, promoting positive and responsible conduct from racegoers travelling to and from the racecourse on foot and prioritising the safety and wellbeing of our local residents.”
Inspector Mike Yates, from the Cheltenham Neighbourhood Policing Team, said the force understands that concerns have been raised about antisocial behaviour related to the Cheltenham Festival.
“In addition to resources working at and around the racecourse, we will have an enhanced community policing presence across the town on every day of the event,” he said.
“Police officers and police community support officers will be conducting high visibility patrols, with a particular focus on identified antisocial behaviour hotspots, around transport hubs, licenced premises and along walking routes.
“There will also be a particular focus on communities living within the vicinity of the Racecourse, who we know can be adversely affected by the anti-social behaviour of some. Officers will provide an enhanced presence along the route between the Racecourse and the town centre while racegoers are leaving the site each day.
“We have used information and intelligence from partners and the local community to identify several locations where officers will be situated with the hope of preventing anti-social behaviour as far as possible. Where unacceptable behaviour is identified, we will respond appropriately.
“We will have our community engagement vehicle in the town centre from 10am to midnight every day as well as a roving CCTV van to provide additional CCTV coverage.
“The community policing operation will handover daily to an enhanced night time economy operation, which will see additional officers deployed on foot to conduct high visibility patrols of the town, again focussing on identified hotspots.”
Louis Krog, Cheltenham Borough Council’s head of public protection said people who come to the town during race week should treat it and residents with respect. The route to and from the racecourse has clear signage to public toilets operated by the council and there will be extra temporary loos on key routes for racegoers, he said.
“There is no excuse for urinating in public and we’ve declared a war on wee to make it clear that people should not misbehave. It’s unpleasant and we shouldn’t have to put up with it.
“To back the war on wee, we are again making water repellent paint available to local residents and businesses and this can be accessed on the council’s website.
“More generally, we are working with our partners to ensure residents and visitors experience a positive event.
“We would urge people to report criminal damage, antisocial behaviour and public urination to the police.”
Cheltenham Festival runs from March 12 until March 15, this year.
We would urge people to report criminal damage, antisocial behaviour and public urination to the police. Louis Krog