| Balgillo councillor Rod Wallace said he appreciated residents in Torridon Road and Nursery Road were experiencing problems with troublesome youths, having suffered at the hands of them himself.
He said he had read complaints from residents in the Tele about youths urinating in gardens, shouting as they congregate at playparks and generally running riot.
Residents have described the situation as unbearable, claiming many of them now think twice before leaving their homes.
Mr Wallace said he believed positive council work for the benefit of the local community had inadvertently caused the latest surge in problems. He said, “This has been a longstanding problem in the area for over 20 years that rears its head again.
“Recently the playpark off Nursery Road was revamped to create a play area for children. However, it has become a gathering point for groups of youths making a lot of noise and proving to be a general disturbance.
“I visited the park with my grandchildren just the other day and all the swings had been wrapped round the bars so children couldn’t play with them.”
Despite increasing reports of problems, Mr Wallace said the past few days had seen some positive action taken to tackle the problem with an increased presence of community wardens and a revised shift system for police in the area.
Despite the improvement, Mr Wallace said he was concerned that it was a “push me, pull you” scenario, with the groups of youths just taking the problem elsewhere.
He added, “We’re trying to encourage these children to do something more pro-active in the area.”
Mr Wallace said despite calling for those suffering from ill treatment at the hands of the youths to contact him he had not yet been approached. He reiterated his call but urged anyone witnessing any anti-social behaviour in the area to contact the police in the first instance. |
