Award for anti-social behaviour initiative at town gardens

A joint project between the Council, North Wales Police and the Friends of the Botanical Gardens to tackle anti-social behaviour has been honoured at an award ceremony.

The Council’s Streetscene team has worked closely with the Friends of the Botanical Gardens and police, as well as local county councillors, schools, Denbighshire Youth Service, the Community Safety Partnership and the local MP and MS to address the issues which were causing concern locally.

The project was shortlisted for the North Wales Police POP (Problem Orientated Policing) awards and reached the final where the project was awarded second place. Those behind the project were awarded at a recent presentation.

Over recent months, there were issues reported with anti-social behaviour at the location, including groups of young people gathering which people found intimidating and vandalism which included damage to the bowling green.

A series of measures were introduced after discussion with partner organisations. They included additional and improved CCTV coverage, gates closed at night, a fence installed around the bowling green, enhanced local police patrols and improved lighting in parts of the park.

Councillor Barry Mellor, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment and Public Transport, said: “The Botanical Garden in Rhyl is an asset for the local community and we want people to be able to enjoy the surroundings in a safe manner.

“I’m delighted that additional measures have been put in place to try and reduce the anti-social behaviour from a minority of individuals. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the project”.

Councillor Rhys Thomas, Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “This is a great example of partnership working that exists in the town and it really shows how solutions can be found to issues when people sit around the table for discussion.

“This is one of a number of initiatives where we work closely with North Wales Police and other partners to make Rhyl a safer place to live in, work in and visit”.

North Wales Police Inspector for Denbighshire Coastal, Jason Davies said: “Partnership working is key to solving the issue of anti-social behaviour. We are grateful of the work from both the Council, and the Friends of the Botanical Gardens, which has resulted in a reduction in incidents.

“We will continue to target ‘low level’ crime in order to protect our communities, whilst working towards making north Wales the safest place in the UK.”