‘Levels of ASB in our parks are too high’-Romford Councillors Stand With Their Residents Calling For Park Gates To be Locked At Night.

‘The parks in my ward, where I listed the crimes such as rape and sexual assaults, back onto houses and gardens. These parks used to be locked but, due to budget cuts, are now left unlocked at night. This isn’t a problem, if you believe what we’re told by the council. It’s not made things any worse.’

In this very emotive piece, Romford Councillor David Taylor shares his battles at the recent full council meeting this week, to get Havering park gates locked at night to stop anti social behaviour and the rise in attacks on women.

This week I stood up in the Town Hall to support my colleague, Councillor Tim Ryan, on a motion about anti-social behaviour in our parks. 

Tim’s motion was clear, we asked the council to agree that the levels of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in our parks was unacceptable, for them to create a report and plan, and for our parks to be locked again. 

 This is something every resident I’ve spoken to can get behind. Levels of ASB in our parks are too high. I often walk through local parks and I see it first hand. People drink alcohol in the kids play areas of Cottons Park at 7am. Discarded drug materials littered around the footpaths. Tennis court nets torn down in Lodge Farm Park. And that’s just the low-level stuff. 

 During my speech I also highlighted the serious crime in our parks. Taking a look at local news reports, just from 2024, I found instances of sexual attacks, rape, dogs mauling people and more. Residents have since been in touch to say they’ve been flashed. 

 This week, as the country focuses on violence against women and girls (VAWG) with campaigns such as White Ribbon Day, it’s important that we call things for what they are. In this instance, unacceptable. 

 Unfortunately, our motion was amended. Neither Labour nor the HRA wanted us to use the word ‘unacceptable’ and neither backed us having the parks locked. These are the very same people who complain that we ‘don’t work with them’. 

 How can I work with you, to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, when you can’t even bring yourselves to call it unacceptable? 

 During my speech, one HRA Councillor interrupted me to state that the crimes I mentioned didn’t happen at night. A bold claim, but also pretty irrelevant. Another tried to interrupt to tell me that I was talking about ‘criminal behaviour’ and not ‘ASB’.

 The second point may be valid, but seriously? There we are, highlighting the unacceptable behaviour women and girls are facing in our parks, and the response is a bit of legalease around whether it’s ASB or criminal behaviour. As far as I’m concerned, criminal behaviour is anti-social behaviour.

 I’ve rarely felt so angry, walking out of the town-hall, as I did this week. So much of the evening was taken up with pointless interruptions. Councillors calling for a ‘point of order’ only to make an unrelated remark. For this to take place in the town-hall, and for our council to refuse to say that ASB is at unreasonable levels, is letting our residents down. Havering Councillors should be ashamed of themselves for the display put on that night. 

 Calling things for what they are is important. If something is wrong, we call it wrong. We do that even when our opponents do that. We do so because it’s what people deserve.

 During the debate, the HRA Cabinet Member for parks stood up and informed us that police are called to parks 20 times a month. He gave examples of motorcross bikes, littering, vandalism and more. That’s 20 times too many, and yet the council still can’t call that unacceptable. Instead, the wording agreed on was that the council ‘recognises levels of anti-social behaviour’. 

 So, you recognise it’s there, but you don’t think it’s unacceptable? Does that mean you’re accepting it? 

When my mate Tim stood up to table the motion he did so because he cares about the parks. Tim is perhaps one of the most conscientious and hard working councillors one can find. He knows everyone, he looks out for everyone, he knows what is happening in the town. 

 Tim wasn’t playing politics when he said the levels of ASB were unacceptable, he was echoing what residents tell us on a regular basis. 

My inbox fills with people too afraid to report crime, or people who feel it isn’t worth it. For every woman messaging to say they felt followed home, many more will have felt the same and said nothing. For every police call-out, many more ASB incidents would have gone unreported. 

 The parks in my ward, where I listed the crimes such as rape and sexual assaults, back onto houses and gardens. These parks used to be locked but, due to budget cuts, are now left unlocked at night. This isn’t a problem, if you believe what we’re told by the council. It’s not made things any worse. 

 Yet, when I’m passing through Cottons Park at 7am people are sat in the play area drinking. Am I to really believe they only turned up just before ‘opening time’? 

 We need these park gates locked. 

 When the Leader of the council presented his budget last year, councillors were told it meant we could retain democratic control over our budget. We won’t be forced into cuts we don’t want to make, was the suggestion. We could be softer than any government administrator would be. 

 Should that be the case, then let’s be clear, we could decide to reverse the cut and lock the parks. The cost, versus what it will do to reduce ASB, is worth it and it can be done (financially). 

 I stood up in the chamber and I read a list of incidents where women have been sexually assaulted in our parks. I could have read a list ten times longer, with a wide range of smaller criminal acts and ASB. I didn’t do that because I thought it was clear that we had a problem. 

 Rough sleepers camp in our parks. Drunks hang around in kids play areas. Litter is rife. Graffiti pops up everywhere. Motorcross bikes are ridden around. This happens in the day, when parks are open, and at night, now the parks are no longer locked. It happens just metres away from back gardens of family homes. 

 To me, and I think all of us in Havering, that’s unacceptable.

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