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Combatting anti-social behaviour and seeing projects to help engage with young people was the focus of a visit by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Andy Dunbobbin and Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner, Wayne Jones to Pwllheli on Thursday, July 21. The visit came during national Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week, and forms part of the year-round focus on the issue of ASB and keeping people in North Wales safe.
Running from July 18 to 22, ASB Awareness Week 2022 aims to encourage communities to take a stand against ASB and highlight the actions that can be taken by those experiencing it. It has been organised by Resolve, the UK’s leading ASB and community safety organisation, and the week features a series of events all across the UK involving councils, Police Forces, housing associations, charities, community groups and sports clubs.
Over the past 12 months there have been 192 incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area covered by the two wards of Pwllheli North and Pwllheli South and police are working with the community to address these issues and tackle this poor behaviour.
Mr Dunbobbin and Mr Jones were joined by Dr Peter Harlech Jones (North Wales Police and Community Trust [PACT] Trustee), Eric Price (Pwllheli Town Council Clerk), Andrew Owen and Annette Ryan (Gwynedd Council Youth Workers) and also met PCSOs Jason Jones and Mark Holland of North Wales Police at Pwllheli Police Station in Yr Ala and visited locations that have seen recent concerns around ASB, including North Street, and the bus stops and car park at Y Maes. The bus stops, which are in a poor state of repair are due to be upgraded by the local council in the near future to improve the facilities on offer.
During their visit to Pwllheli, Mr Dunbobbin and Mr Jones also visited two projects that received funding earlier this year from PACT at the Leisure Centre and Football Club. PACT was launched in 1998 to support community initiatives, particularly those where the Police are involved, and which aim to improve the quality of life by reducing crime and fear of crime in all the communities of North Wales. PACT encourages applications from community and voluntary groups, in partnership with their Neighbourhood Policing Teams that will have a positive impact in local communities and encourage a safer environment and increased quality of life.
Pwllheli Football Club received funding towards the redevelopment the club house and future plans are to hold sessions for the young people in the club house by creating a facility that the youths can use. The hope is that the funding will help to continue the relationship between the local Policing Team and the young people of Pwllheli and surrounding area and will allow the Football Club to engage with the local young people and help decrease ASB in the area.
At the Leisure Centre, funding went towards the creation of a graffiti wall to bring the community together and decrease ASB. Around 50 local young people were involved in the creation of the wall. Further funding from the same source has gone towards new CCTV cameras installed by Pwllheli Town Council along Embankment Road.
Andy Dunbobbin commented: “I was delighted to visit to Pwllheli today to engage with local officers and meet members of the public during my walk around the town. Anti-social behaviour is a problem that blights all communities and is something the Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner and I are determined to tackle. Delivering safer neighbourhoods, and supporting victims and communities, are cornerstones of my Police and Crime Plan. My visit to Pwllheli gave me the opportunity to see how the plan is being implemented on the ground and to see the dedication and commitment of North Wales Police’s dedicated officers and staff to making North Wales the safest place in the UK.”