Indy159

Not wishing to get into some debate about police stats. The long and short of this is that young members of our local community worked together to create something for all to use if they wish to do so. The activity may not be to everyone’s taste but I’m sure if they’d cleared the area for football or table tennis no one would be critical. Imo table tennis noise would be more annoying than skater noises but I would accept this as it is a pass time people would enjoy without being a nuisance to others outside of that arena. To back track a little I have however looked at the police stats for the cp skatepark area and it appears to have been more positive in terms of stats since the skatepark opened although my interpretation of them may be wrong.

No stats for the grove but after a year the wardens reported the following for Crystal Palace skatepark: Petty crime down Graffiti down in local area except in skatepark Dog walkers felt safer .

The Grove, imo , has been a positive addition. I live a few streets away and see how they sweep and try to keep it tidy. The truth is that there’s little to nothing for youths, but loads for young kids and adults to do. Take away the grove and you’ll have a lot of idle hands getting up to mischief elsewhere. With the darker evenings and wet weather the grove will be used less over the next while. Be interesting to see if there’s a spike in mischief during this period. If there is, then there’s a possible argument for a weather proof facility ie a roof over or covered area for the skaters.