Reply ID 339
01/10/2003 by Dude
I live in the town centre, and I can honestly say, the violence and vandalism is geing worse with each month.
Most of the traffic beacons have been kicked in, bins and signs are bent and smashed. Quite a few of the black steel posts have been pulled out of the ground, there is smashed glass all over the place, and most of all, there is rubbish everywhere.
I'm out in the town most Friday and Saturday nights, and I see people doing it, and fighting most nights.
Whilst I like the town to have lots of restuarants and pubs, there is hardly ever any police presence (particularly on foot) and the drunk kids run riot.
To me, its quite simple.
The police are not protecting the public and property.
The council are out of touch with licencing laws, and do not put simple acts into effect, such as staggering the licencing kick out times, or putting more pressure on the venue owners to take more responsiblity.
Shame. The town centre is all the rage now, but the violence will see it die off eventually, then we'll have a ghost town. Hoddesdon is a fine example.
The council and police did not manage the problems, and it eventually killed the town centre.