Having been contacted by local residents who were concerned about anti-social behaviour on Lovelace Green, I wanted to provide an update from the Council about how they have approached this issue.
Council Officers have visited Lovelace Green (last weekend I think) and could see evidence of the anti-social behaviour, but could not see anyone doing anything wrong at that point.
Following this, the Council Officer visited Lovelace Green again, on Tuesday 16th February 2021, to complete an Environmental Visual Audit; a method used to assess designing out crime options. The Council Officer has noted that mopeds find it relatively easy to gain access to the green because of the layout of the area and the pathway. The Officer concerned is going to speak to the Parks and Open Spaces Department to explore how access to the green might be limited, but obviously does not want to stop others from being able to access the space when they want. From my point of view, this is something which has been tried in the past, but the challenge of limiting access to an open space like Lovelace Green is substantial and I have not seen a solution to the problem of limiting access for those indulging in anti-social behaviour while keeping the space open for everyone to use.
In further discussions with local residents, the Council Officers found that the anti-social behaviour is largely taking place in the evenings and into the late hours. As such, I am advised that the Community Safety Enforcement Team will adapt their shift patterns to work later so that they are able to provide a visible deterrent and to monitor the level of anti-social behaviour occurring during the evening at Lovelace Green. I hope this will be effective intervention to disrupt any criminal behaviour and to capture evidence of individuals engaged in this behaviour as it has worked in the past.
In addition to this, the Eltham North Safer Neighbourhood Team have been informed so the police will be involved. I am informed that you can report any anti-social behaviour relating to the illegal use of mopeds to the police via this website – https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/. In addition, if you have any concerns, please do let Cllr Charlie Davis or myself know as it is good for us to be kept informed when dealing with this kind of issue.