ASB/Drugs

Hello all

I just wanted to share with you an example of ‘joint working’ with another agency, in this case Folkestone and Hythe District Council.

I received a few complaints about suspected drug dealing/use behind Churchland's House New Romney, specifically in the bottom far corner of the car park.

On further inspection I found that there was an L shaped bush which was giving a small area of waste ground behind it the perfect cover for this type of activity and when I walked round the back of it I found several discarded and used Nitrous Oxide Cannisters which can come in several forms and are widely used for things like squirty cream as it's the gas chargers inside that push the cream out and is commonly known as laughing gas which is extremely dangerous to inhale and in fact is now a class C drug if used for its psychoactive effects, so unless they'd been making several cream cakes for a local charity behind the bush then it's highly likely that this little ‘den’ was a place that was being used to get ‘high’ on the gas.

I reported my findings to the council on 20th August asking them if they would be able to remove or at least reduce the height of the bush and by the 25th they had attended, removed the bush and cleared the mess up.

We can all be guilty of being quick to complain but not as quick to commend and so I would like to formally thank the council for their speedy work that has hopefully stopped this activity at this particular location.

I also believe that this little den of ASB was having a knock on effect in the garages area which is adjacent to the rear of Churchland's House and is accessed from St Martin's Road. I am aware that one particular corner of it was a meeting area for youths and this small corner butts onto where the den was and the ASB spilled over into this area also so hopefully this problem has been erased or significantly reduced and I will be keeping an eye on the situation.

As you can see from the photos, the bush in situ, the squirty cream cans and other mess and then the bush removed and the mess cleared up.

Thank you

Steve.