• At “extreme” risk.

Report IDs park as anti-social hot spot

A RISK assessment of a Bayswater park blighted with anti-social behaviour has identified some areas as still being of “extreme” risk.

Halliday Park, near the train station, has long been a haven for lager-swilling louts.

Last year, council rangers reported “a significant increase in the number of reports relating to anti-social behaviour in and around reserves at the RISE, Grand Promenade Reserve, Halliday Park and Pat O’Hara Reserve”.

The Crime and Safety Risk Management Plan revealed low lighting at the park’s gazebo was an extreme risk and had resulted in an increase in anti-social behaviour.

It also identified as high risk the walk from the train station to the bus stop on Coode Street and louts getting into the park from Burnside Street because of a broken fence.

Since the initial safety audit in May 2011, the council has implemented a fleet of measures, including easy access to police and security officers, improving sight lines, use of lighting and empowering the community to help police to catch yobs.

The strategy has had mixed dividends with this month’s report indicating a reduction in some risks—availability of alcohol, lack of surveillance—while others such as poor lighting remain a threat.

The report was conducted by the city’s Security Watch Advisory Committee.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK