Spalding Nene Court residents tackle police amid fears that not enough is done to tackle ‘scum’
A frustrated Spalding community that is plagued with anti-social behaviour was told a local inspector does not have the resources for ‘proactive policing’.
Angry residents of the Nene Court area shared stories of a man wielding an axe, authorities not responding to reports of child abuse and elderly people being accosted by ‘junkies’ during a summit with police, South Holland District Council’s housing team and MP Sir John Hayes on Tuesday.
But the 20 people in Nene Court Community Centre were told that the number of officers covering the area was probably less than people imagined by South Holland’s Police Insp Nick Waters.
Residents were also told that one person is currently in prison after breaching an injunction, which had been requested by the district council.
One resident told the meeting: “Why have you come? Apart from getting everyone anxious when nothing is really being done.
“All our lives we have been law abiding citizens but when you ring the police now, you get nothing.
“I have been a Spalding girl for 66 years. From being a child, I have never lived in such scum as in Spalding now. It is heartbreaking to see our town go the way it has gone.”
People at the meeting shared their anger over the lack of enforcement action taken within their community, ranging from drug users sniffing cocaine within the Nene Court Community Centre, to cars left on jacks in the street right through to disruptive neighbours.
One woman said she only gets four hours sleep a night due to the loud music played in a neighbouring property, which she said she had reported to no avail.
Anger was shared about repeated 999 calls about a child being hit with a stick, to which it was said police did not attend. Concerns were also raised that other reports to the police not being answered.
One man called for ‘proactive policing’ to stop petty crime escalating to something more serious and shared stories of officers not taking action to stop drug deals and cycling on pavements.
He said to Insp Waters: “No-one has confidence in you as now we don’t see a police presence and there’s a perceived inaction when you do report it.”
Insp Waters told the meeting that 999 calls are taken and prioritised by handlers in Lincoln and that these are attended by response officers which have a long list of incidents to get to.
He also said South Holland has 400 to 500 incidents reported to 999 and 101 a week.
Insp Waters also said that the team covering the 280 square miles and a population of nearly 100,000 was ‘probably less than you imagine’.
He said: “The neighbourhood beat team is a much smaller team, across the whole of South Holland with two sergeants, five police constables and currently ten - soon to be six - PCSOs. They are the only proactive element – the others are too busy on 999 calls.
“The proactive unit we brought here to assist with issues around mate crime probably only departed to issues in Sutton Bridge, Gosberton or Holbeach as they have to move onto the next problem. It is a question of volume. We can never get on top of that volume.”
Residents also raised concerns about mixing older and younger people in social housing along with the lack of enforcement action on untidy gardens.
One resident also called for the council to have a cohesive policy with private and social housing landlords for issues to be dealt with.
New district council portfolio holder for communities and operational housing Coun Tracey Carter said the authority is looking to bring in some form of additional help to sheltered accommodation and promised to do a ‘deep dive’ into the number of complaints and enforcement action.