Troublemakers plague New Milton high street
TRADERS have hit out at a lack of action to tackle troublemakers responsible for drunken and anti-social behaviour in New Milton town centre amid claims elderly residents are too afraid to go out.
A small group of adults frequently congregating in the precinct near Morrisons at the northern end of Station Road was blamed for many of the disturbances.
The town council, which recently held a secret discussion about the issue after an amenities committee meeting, is now working with New Forest District Council and the police to find a solution.
They want to set up a public spaces protection order (PSPO) in the high street, along with the nearby War Memorial Recreation Ground which is also the scene of many disturbances.
Such an order would empower police to deal with a particular issue that is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life for those in the community. For example, although drinking in public would not be outlawed, drunk and disorderly behaviour could result in alcohol being confiscated.
However, a full town council meeting on Monday heard there was a significant discrepancy between the number of disturbances reported and those officially recorded by police.
Traders attending complained they and many others were being put off reporting incidents to the 101 non-emergency police line due to heavy delays or lack of response.
Brian Byrne, New Forest District Council’s service manager for housing, community safety and CCTV, told them he was working towards ensuring disturbances reported via 101 are forwarded to his team.
Having recently been alerted to concerns of anti-social behaviour in Station Road, Mr Byrne had visited some of the high street’s businesses to gather feedback.
“It appears we have a disconnect in regards to local views and recorded crime,” he said.
Emphasising that the reality of the situation is all services are “finite”, including the police, Mr Byrne said this affected officers’ response to reported disturbances.
He explained a multi-agency forum comprising NFDC, the town council, police and voluntary and statutory services has been working to address anti-social behaviour in New Milton. It is hoped NFDC representatives will have weekly meetings with police to discuss local incidents.
“My team [the Safer New Forest Partnership] will also come down here on market days [Wednesdays] to do some community engagement,” Mr Byrne continued.
“Where people have the perception or fear of crime doesn’t always stack up with recorded crime.”
In a bid to address concerns about street drinking, he promised his community safety team would work with licensing officers overseeing the sale of alcohol in the town.
In response to repeated complaints of shoplifting, he also proposed the local shop watch scheme should be developed and expanded.
“We need to work with businesses to improve communication in business sectors, as there is an element of under-reporting, perhaps for thefts that might be considered acceptable losses,” he said. “We need to be promoting zero-tolerance where inappropriate behaviour is inappropriate behaviour.”
Although sympathising with frustrations over the use of the 101 police line, Mr Byrne urged people to persevere as he had requested police pass on anti-social behaviour reports made through it to his team.
Claire Shanley, secretary of the New Milton Conservative Club in Station Road, told the meeting perceived “barriers to reporting” have been a major issue for traders and residents affected by anti-social behaviour.
One trader, whose business is based opposite the precinct, told how problems with drunken and disruptive behaviour there had forced him to dial 101 50 times in the last 18 months. He was annoyed that despite this, no one from NFDC had come to discuss his concerns.
“Surely a person compiling this log from the 101 calls would have passed on my details,” he said.
Mr Byrne pointed out the store visits by his team were focussed on the side of the road where the disturbances were taking place. However, he sought to assure the trader that the police would be questioned as to why not all the reports to 101 were being passed on.
He urged people who use the non-emergency line to ask the call taker for their report to be passed on to NFDC’s community safety team.
“I understand your frustrations,” he said. “When I was seeing reports of this [anti-social behaviour] in the press, I was thinking, this is not recorded. We need to see where this information is going.
“We’re looking at improving the mechanisms locally so that this can be recorded better.”
Elaine Shanley, housing officer at Homemill, a sheltered accommodation block for the elderly positioned above shops in the precinct, said fear of the problems was isolating many of her residents.
“We’ve got all these elderly people who are staying indoors because they are afraid to go out to the shops, even just to Morrisons, and they send someone else to do the shopping for them,” she explained.
“In a town like New Milton, why should you be frightened to go to your local shop?
“Last summer was horrendous. There was good weather, so these people were out there getting drunk.”
Although having herself experienced ongoing problems using the 101 service, Mrs Shanley pointed out a call she made on Monday actually resulted in police responding and making an arrest.
People’s good-natured reaction to street beggars in Station Road was a significant factor in the problems with drunken disorder there, Cllr Steve Davies believed.
“Any decent person is going to be moved by that,” he said.
“How can we make people aware that if you’re giving beggars in the street money, you’re often funding something to go up their arm or down their throat, to put it bluntly.”
Responding to this point, Mr Byrne said the community safety team was encouraging those wishing to help tackle homelessness to donate directly to local charities rather than giving money to street beggars.
“Homelessness legislation changed in October last year,” he said. “It’s now about supporting and assisting from the word go.
“Anyone who is street homeless doesn’t go 48 hours without being reported.”
Having met some of the traders with the mayor Alvin Reid and councillors Geoff Blunden and Neil Tungate, Cllr Steve Clarke argued one agency alone could not deal with the problem.
He expressed surprise at the “sheer scale” of the discrepancy between anti-social behaviour incidents recorded in the town and the number of complaints he had heard from traders.
“We knew there were some problems, but not to the scale that’s been highlighted to us,” said Cllr Clarke.
“There is a significant breakdown in police systems regarding reporting and recording.”
Addressing the concerned people at the meeting, he continued: “There will be periods of frustration, but we will be staying in touch with you.
“Your district councillors will be involved in this and making sure they do everything they can to put a stop to this.”
Thanking all those who had raised points about disturbances in Station Road, Cllr Reid called on traders and residents to continue using the 101 service, or dial 999 in an emergency. He also asked the traders to continue keeping a log in their incident diaries.
“We’ve got a multi-agency team looking at it,” he said. “This can only be done by a multi-agency team.”
