Vandals damage new-look Shifnal play area
Saturday 15th May 2010, 11:30AM BST.
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Vandals have badly damaged new equipment costing thousands of pounds before a £73,000 makeover at a Shropshire playing field has even been completed.
Play equipment and a youth shelter were targeted by the thugs at playing fields in Wheatfield Drive in Shifnal.
The teenagers’ shelter has been daubed with graffiti and its push-button solar-powered radio has been broken.
Structural damage had also been caused to the shelter by the vandals removing metal bolts and the surrounding area has also been littered with broken glass.
Shifnal mayor Councillor Les Jones said he was disappointed that the vandalism had been carried out after Lottery funding was awarded for the makeover.
“It’s very frustrating but you cannot let the vandals beat you. We will have to negotiate the cost of putting things right because it has not officially been handed over yet,” he said.
“We just have to carry on regardless. We really need parents to explain to children that every time they damage something like this, the money to repair it is coming out of their pockets.”
There has also been problems with broken glass being left on football fields and police and Community Support Officers have increased their patrols in a bid to crack down on the problem, Councillor Jones added.
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typical chavs
i dont know why we bother
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The teenage shelter was probably damaged for the exact people it was built for … teenagers!
Such a shame when the, probable bad minority, spoil it for everyone else.
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Lets face it, even if the scum that carried out this act of vandalism are caught. Whats going to happen to them? Not alot the law has no teeth to deal with these people. O yes an asbro! well we know that doesn’t work.
A public flogging might work!
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Urmmm, did no one think to spend but a few pounds of the £73,000 (roughly £100) on a wireless remote camera!
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people say that there is not enough for the young people to do around where they live, then when funds make it possible to build something for them, this happens. I feel that the parents should take some responsability for this and make sure they know where and what there Kids are up to.
So if you know who did it, report it.
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Tories have the majority and look what happens to the country.
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Unless you are being ironic then this is a rather silly comment, they only started in Government last week!
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Observer, You are only seeing this in ” black and white “. Use a bit of grey and you might see it as a joke..
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Touche!!!
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Take everything away, give them what they deserve, nothing, and save money for those that need it.
I am sick of these scumbags !
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same allmost anyware as with comment 1 i can aggree but would say do these things for the community but if they get damaged they will not be replaced and in the case of local authority land i-e parks ect if the act continued -would sell the land to the nearest developer and leave the community without the facilities unless they chipped in privatly
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why do we bother
the only solution is for them to be privatised and you pay on the gate to stop the teens going in there, that way my taxes will be lowered too
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typical of people in telford
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What a moronic comment to make. I think you should look into vandalism in the County and you will find it is not only Telford that have problems, it is all corners of Shropshire. It is a waste of time moaning anyway because even if the culprits are caught and charged, they will receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist and the tax payer has to stump up the money to send him to court. The justice system is to blame as much as the idiots that go about smashing things up.
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typical, money is wasted on kids, spend it on services for OAPS instead i say
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The council must take some responsibility for these problems. They agreed to the new play area being installed without a management plan for how to deal with the increase in use. A small investment in basic security (cctv, timed mosquito device) would save them money in the long run.
As for the ‘increased patrols’, Sunday at 10am is not really a peak time for antisocial behaviour.
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True Salopian @ 10,
Nothing typical about it at all, I happen to know lots of people and children in Telford who are not vandals, myself included!
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true salopian said:
“typical of people in telford”
I say “how typical of anti-Telford bigots like yourself not to notice that the story is about a play area in SHIFNAL”.
Last time I looked Shifnal was in Shropshire, and presumably home to rather lot of “true salopians”.
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Install CCTV and get the PCSO’s to patrol around this area on a regular basis. Those who commit vandalism should be fined and their parents warned of their child’s future conduct.
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I can’t believe it
I didn’t see an anti Telford posting until i got to comment 10, shame the bright spark doesn’t know the geography of his own county.
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True Salopian = how can you use that name when you clearly have no idea of the difference between Telford and Shifnal. Almost as bad as the vandals.
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shifnal, wellington, telford, all close enough, in my view they’re all the same, chav towns full of council houses which blight shropshires landscape and character
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How true Dan – unlike the sylvan glens and historic Georgian crescents of Sundorne and Harlescott.
…and of course, Telford hasn’t quite achieved a “24 hour leisure economy” to rival that of Frankwell, with its “Olde Knockynge Shoppes”…..
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Whilst you are praising the facilities of the paradise that is our proud county town, you must not forget the well documented public conveniences that allows lonely men to meet and get to know each other better..
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Surely the AFC Telford United ground fulfills a similar function….?
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the main point is though telford is a dump, period
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No… PARTS of Telford are a dump, same as any town, anywhere. There’s parts of Shrewsbury that are far worse than anywhere in Telford.
As someone else has already pointed out, this was no doubt bored kids who did this… yes, it’s a shame but it’s really not indicative of a break-down in society as some of the posters here appear to believe. Any small town has this type of issue from time-to-time… wherever there are bored kids with nothing to do, sooner or later they’ll break something for a laugh. Not worth getting so upset about. It’s in-excusable but it is understandable (provided you’re not a knee-jerk, right-wing bigot who’s never going to be happy until parish councils are given the right to birch kids in the town square).
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Is that the sound of sisterly love and banjo’s i hear coming from the envious west…
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I guess the Shrewsbury lot will blame Telford for last nights stabbing and gang fight in shrewsbury where there has been shootings/murders over the last few years.
Back to real point, which has nothing to do with Telford or indeed Shrewsbury, can the “message” board moderator not actually keep messages/posts on here on subject rather than allowing small town minded people to bicker, unless of course he too is party to the Slops/telford thing.
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Telford will never rid itself of crime and antisocial behaviour until The West Mercia Constabulary gets off it’s collective butt and starts doing the job we pay it for.instead of massaging the actual crime figures and constantly whining for witnesses to incidents it should have prevented in the first place.
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what has this got to do with Shifnal?
i guess Shrewsbury is crime free, let see had my car broken into twice in Frankwell, saw a mate beaten by a group of shrewsbury lads, numerous murders over the years etc, yes a great utopia.
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Scum.
Bring Back The Nutting Squads.
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