APPENDIX 18
Memorandum from the Scarborough and District
Civic Society
The Civic Trust has asked that individual civic
societies registered with them respond to a request for comments
on six questions on the above.
SCARBOROUGH AND
DISTRICT CIVIC
SOCIETY COMMENT
AS FOLLOWS
1. What is the scale of the impact of these
crimes on the environment?
The scale of the impact in Scarborough is considerable.
We have a beautiful town disfigured by graffiti and fly-posting.
Litter is a problem too although the local authority tackle this
issue vigorously. Graffiti in Scarborough seems to be a bigger
problem here than in neighbouring areas, we don't know why. We
know of at least one individual who tackles it at his own expense
with his own materials, the civic society has helped him with
the cost of this. We have graffiti on listed buildings. Graffiti
seems to be allowed to stay for far too long, indeed seems permanent.
Fly-posting and graffiti seem to be on the increase. The local
authority is now tackling abandoned cars more effectively.
2. Has there been a cultural change in attitudes
to these types of crimes?
We think graffiti and fly-tipping are being
treated more seriously than in the past, there have been some
convictions, well publicised in the local press.
3. Do responsible bodies have sufficient
resources and powers?
For graffiti and fly posting, apparently not.
Litter is dealt with but not everywhere to a consistent standard.
4. Is there sufficient dialogue and co-operation
amongst the various bodies?
We suspect not, voluntary bodies, like civic
societies could perhaps help with monitoring but we are not engaged.
5. What alternatives exist for dealing with
this outside the criminal justice system?
Suggest education, education, education. It
would be helpful in understanding the problem to know a lot more
about why people do graffiti, we are not aware of any sources
of research on this issue but surely there must be some?
6. Does environmental crime have a disproportionate
effect on less advantaged sections of society?
Our knowledge of the worst areas for environmental
crime in Scarborough leads us to say yes.
Please note that the Civic Trust passed this
enquiry on to us very promptly but we only had a few days to respond.
We could improve our response on matters such as this if we had
more time, like many societies, our committee meets once a month
so six weeks would be a more realistic time period.
February 2004
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