Problems at park have ‘really got out of hand’
YOUTHS are destroying a park, smashing windows, spraying swastikas on homes and torching children’s swings while others use the seats as dog chews, a meeting heard.
Yarm Town Council discussed problems plaguing Willey Flatts Park, where an 11-year-old girl was attacked by a gang of youths in April. There are hopes to install CCTV in the area.
New ward councillor John Coulson said: “The situation up there’s got really out of hand. One of the housing estates on Tall Trees, there was five youths went around with metal bars, put windows in and they were spray-painting swastikas on the houses.
“There’s more serious issues than that. It does involve violence and a young girl,” he said at the meeting on Tuesday night.
“I have got a meeting arranged with the police and crime commissioner to address this issue, and that’ll be in the next couple of weeks.
“It’s well known these youths are travelling. We know they’re travelling from Ingleby Barwick and Thornaby. It’s not all children from Yarm, that’s for sure.”
Town councillor Yvonne Pybus said: “The people that are doing this are not off Willey Flatts. They’re coming in droves.
“There was a post by a parent who had said, ‘If you want rid of your kids just send them over to Willey Flatts, it’s all right.’ No it’s not all right. Why should we have to put up with it?
“I phoned the police a fortnight ago to say there was between 40 and 60 youths that had got off the train and gone over to Willey Flatts Park.
“All they’re doing is destroying the park.”
Cllr Barbara Pegg said: “I was told on Monday that children couldn’t come over to Willey Flatts field. We don’t want areas like that in this town.”
New town council chairman Cllr Peter Monck said: “I think this is a really important issue and we need to work closely with the ward councillors to find a solution.
“The biggest thing we’ve got a problem with is Willey Flatts field at the moment, and that’s something we can all get involved in. We can all work to try and resolve that problem with the help of the ward councillors and the police.”
Clerk Juliet Johnson said about the possibility of CCTV: “We have to build up a case and encourage residents to report all the incidents so they can go to the surveillance commissioner to get permission to site cameras. And it has to be Stockton (Council) that does that.
“Last time I spoke to them they said we’re getting a really good case.”
Cllr Pamela Snaith suggested using around £4,000 funding from ward councillors for maintenance of CCTV: “It would protect the play equipment, it would protect the children.”
A Go Fund Me page has raised £600 in donations for CCTV.
The council also own Snaith’s Field, where a children’s seat had been set alight and destroyed.
Cllr Bob Wegg said: “It was 3.30 on Sunday afternoon and there was 10 children there playing. There was lads walking up Snaith’s Field path, they were behind us.
“When we turned the corner there it was burning, lit. They’d set the rubber on the seat alight which completely ruined it and it dropped on to the rubber mat and that was burning.”
Ms Johnson added: “People use the rubber swings as dog chews. Our play equipment guy came into the office and said ‘look what I’ve got.’ Caught redhanded, a gentleman with his dog on Willey Flatts field with a swing in its mouth. “We’ve reported that to the police, he’s got the pictures. I think it’s worth saying this was a mature person. It wasn’t children or young people causing damage, and those swings cost nearly £300 to replace each seat.”
After the attack on the girl in Willey Flatts Park on April 4, police urged witnesses to call 101, quoting incident number 064115 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
When we turned the corner there it was burning... they’d set the rubber on the seat
alight.
Cllr Bob Wegg