Hartlepool councillor '˜over the moon for residents' at new CCTV to deter park yobs

Fens and Rossmere Councillor Bob Buchan collected around 100 names on a petition for cameras in Rossmere Park after ongoing problems with vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

He presented it to senior council officers at a meeting to discuss the issues which was attended by fellow ward councillors Tony Richardson and Jim Lindridge.

Following the meeting, Denise Ogden, Hartlepool Borough Council’s Director of Regeneration and Neighbourhoods, wrote to Coun Buchan to say money previously allocated to improve roundabouts and barriers across the town was being recommended for new CCTV cameras including at Rossmere Park.

On Monday this week, the council’s Finance and Policy Committee approved the plans which will also see cameras go up in the Burn Valley, Ward Jackson Park and Seaton Carew Park.

Coun Buchan said: “I had been pushing for CCTV hard as a councillor as had Councillor Richardson.

“£85,000 was spent on Burn Valley on the playground and that was destroyed.

“I didn’t want to see the same happen to Rossmere Park, the record of anti-social behaviour in Rossmere Park is terrible.

“There’s thousands of people in the town who would have known about it and spotted the petition.

“It’s a big thing across the town for the safety of our residents.

“I’m over the moon for our residents.

“To protect the park for the kids it’s marvellous, part of growing up healthy is exercise and that’s what you get with parks.

“As a kid you don’t think of it as exercise you just think of it as fun.”

Coun Buchan said Rossmere Park has recently suffered vandalism and fires to its toilets and yobs throwing stones at residents’ homes.

In October, the Mail reported how a park security officer called the police after youths threw stones at him when he tried to lock the gates at night.

Work has started on £550,000 improvement works developed by the council including installing new children’s play equipment, creating a car park and new events space and work to the pond.

The project being funded is by Mondegreen Environmental Body, a regional grant-giving organisation which distributes money from landfill tax to community initiatives.