Needles found in Riverside were cause for concern at last night's partnerships and communities together meeting (PACT).
Held at the South Riverside Community Centre, a plastic tub was presented before the panel of councillors and police officers, containing needles collected from behind the old Wells hotel on Craddock Street.
The presence of the unused needles caused a stir at the meeting – which had been dealing with local issues such as anti-social behaviour in Clos Dewi Sant and illegal parking on Lower Cathedral Road.
The resident who had collected the needles said: "One of the little kids went and found someone stretched out and thought they were dead. There was a needle stuck in their arm."
The councillors and police community support officers agreed the issue was one of "serious concern" and made it their pact priority to deal with the problem.
PSCO for Riverside Jake Lynch said:
"It has been an ongoing problem for quite some time and we have had a park watch in Clare and Despenser Gardens. We are looking to do a neighbourhood watch in the area and I always pay attentino to this area when I'm on patrol."
Councillor Mohammed Islam for Riverside said:
"It's very worrying for the youngsteres and the neighbours because they play football there. But the police will be looking into it and will be monitoring the area. I hope we can have it resolved as soon as possible."
Frontline support officer Wendy Payne urged residents to phone 101 or councillors and police directly if they spot a problem like this.
Crime in Riverside
Crimes statistics for Riverside have shown an increase over the last year – with the average number of crimes for January, February and March rising from 134 in 2009 to 145.7 in 2010 – above the average for South Wales. Most of the crimes reported are concerning anti-social behaviour.
Following the last pact meeting residents were given an update on anti-social behaviour problems in Canton Court and following a focused team working int he area, residents had seen improvements.
"It has been very successful," said Islam. "We've had positive results following the DART team (Diversionary Activity Response Team) working in the area and I've visited there recently and it really has been a success."
Residents in Clos Dewi Sant complained about anti-social behaviour and illegal parking. There was also concern about anti-social behaviour and night time noise in Lichfield Court.
Residents were given details of a new Night Time Noise service – disturbance by noise from parties or neighbours from 7pm onwards from Wednesdays to Sundays the Pollution Control Team can be contacted on 02920 871 650 or email noise&airpollution@cardiff.gov.uk
PSCO Jake Lynch will also be running a life saving certificate on weekends for young people in the area - we'll bring you more details on this soon.
The next Riverside ward meeting (which includes the Pontcanna area) will take place on 12 July at St Catherine's Church Hall on Kings Road at 7pm. See ourbobby.com for more details.
