One issue has dominated the news and social media in St
Austell this past week – the rise of anti-social behaviour, drugs and crime in
the town centre.
For many years now this has been an ongoing issue that tends
to see an increase in the summer months. However, it was quite clear from the
number of people who contacted me that there had been a significant increase in
cases since the beginning of this month.
Having spoken to businesses representatives, local Police
and the Town Council, it was clear to me that urgent action was needed,
particularly as local businesses were already facing big challenges to draw
people into the town following the easing of the lockdown restrictions.
Therefore, I used my position as the local MP to call an urgent meeting last
Thursday. Initially Cornwall Council declined to send any representatives to
the meeting but after I pressed the point with them, they did eventually agree
to join us by video link.
This is particularly frustrating as last summer we saw a
noticeable improvement as a result of the hard work of local businesses, the
Police and council working together. However, it does feel that all that good
work has been undone in just a few weeks as a result of the number of people
currently being housed in the town by Cornwall Council.
I have always been of the view that this issue needed a dual
approach. We need to address the symptom by having a visible Police and
security presence in the town. But we cannot just go on throwing resources at
the symptoms, we also need to understand what the cause of the problem is and
address them. Whilst this is a complex
matter and I do not pretend for a moment there are any simple long term
answers, there is no doubt in my mind that more could be done to understand and
take action to deal with the causes.
Whilst all towns have their problems with anti-social
behaviour, it has been true for too long that St Austell has more than its
share of challenges. It is undeniable that there are a significant number of
facilities around the town that provide housing to those with complex needs and
chaotic lifestyles. Recent figures produced have highlighted that St Austell
has a higher number of supported accommodation beds commissioned by Cornwall
Council than other comparable place in Cornwall.
This is something I have been working on for more than 3
years and in fact had a meeting with senior Cornwall Council officers planned
for March, which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the lockdown.
In calling the meeting last week my aim for to first agree
some immediate action in order to ensure the current situation was improved
quickly. But I also wanted to ensure steps were put in place to work to find
longer term solutions.
I am pleased to report that the meeting went very well. I was
very pleased with the way everyone from St Austell made a robust presentation
to Cornwall Council of the challenges our town faces – including the Police,
Town Council including the Mayor and Deputy, and those from the towns’
businesses community. We all agreed following the meeting that for the first
time we felt as though Cornwall Council ‘got it’.
The local Police were able to confirm at the meeting that
they would be increasing their presence in the town centre immediately and it
was good to receive reports of several arrests that were made in the following
few days. Also, the outreach services from the anti-social behaviour team
agreed to increase their patrols. From my visits to the town in the days that
followed it was clear that this had an immediate impact and the businesses I
spoke to, reported a noticeable improvement.
However, I am also determined that we address the underlying
causes of this issue. It was disappointing that still, after more than two
years of me asking Cornwall Council the questions, they were unable to provide
us with any figures as to how many people with complex needs, the various
departments of Cornwall Council are currently housing in St Austell. Those at
the meeting did however commit to provide me and the Town Council with this
information in the near future.
This will be the first step to ensuring that St Austell is
treated fairly by the council and that we can all work together to ensure we do
not see a repeat of the events of the past few weeks. I am determined that this
will now happen and will continue to work with the Town Council, Police and
businesses to make sure it does.
