Mayor's plea to public over vandalism
The mayor of Saltash has urged members of the public to report any illegal activities to police.
Mona Tomaszewska-Honywill made the plea at a meeting at Saltash Guildhall at which vandalism was discussed. It was attended by head teachers of local schools, the police, councillors and youth leaders.
The mayor said many illegal incidents are not reported as people feared reprisals, but police should be told of anything causing concern to residents. Her appeal was echoed by Inspector John Parlour, who urged the public to work together with the police. Mrs Tomaszewska-Honywill added that parents should be more concerned about the whereabouts of their children and teenagers and felt they should be held responsible for, and pay for any damage caused by, their youngsters. She highlighted vandalism in the churchyard, where she said parents had paid for the damage.
The meeting heard that several schools have been vandalised, as well as Saltash library. Library community liaison officer, Sylvia Roberts, said various items had been found behind the library and near Brunel school, such as syringes and condoms. Peter Hunkin, of Burraton primary, spoke of the thousands of pounds worth of damage caused there by vandals earlier this year, while Keith Howdle of Brunel school also reported incidents of vandalism, as did Janet Morris of Saltash community school. Miss Morris said fences had been broken by adults trying to get into the school grounds after school hours, and people had been seen destroying dog anti-fouling notices. Dogs had been allowed to mess in the grounds, and rubbish had been dumped there.
Keith Asprey of Saltash tennis club spoke of bottles and pebbles etc being thrown over the railings and mentioned the advantages of closing the children's play area at Warfelton as it is used for drinking etc during the evenings, with syringes and bottles being found in the area recently. Mr Asprey added, however, that despite receiving verbal abuse from some youngsters, others had been encouraged to take an interest in tennis, and had proved to be no problem .
Speaking of under age drinking Inspector Parlour said licensees were aware of the problem, but adults were often buying drink and giving it to youngsters. He said it was time to put together a plan of action to protect schools and public buildings, especially with the approaching school holidays. Crime prevention officer, Chris Pridham, spoke about the important use of CCTV and of links that could be established between Liskeard and Saltash.
Mentioning the damage and mess caused by young people he said they should be made to clean up the damage they had caused - and the same situation should apply to irresponsible dog owners.