Recent Vandalism
RECENT VANDALISM TO MILL CHASE PAVILION, JUBILEE PARK, AND BORDON INCLOSURE
Unfortunately, during 2022 there has been a significant increase of vandalism to Whitehill Town Council’s land and amenities.
These repairs will come out of the Town Council’s budget which is made up of council tax precept money which residents pay for each year. This vandalism has taken a lot of hours away from both Whitehill Town Council staff and The Deadwater Valley Trust staff to clear up and make repairs to rectify this mindless destruction, which means that their day to day responsibilities and other work may get pushed back. Money that has been earmarked to purchase new items for the town listed in our strategic plan, gets stopped or postponed, because we have to use this money to repair or replace something that has been vandalised.
MILL CHASE RECREATION GROUND – vandalism to roof and the flue will cost a considerable amount to fix! The local football club Wey Valley use the pavilion together with residents that wish to hire this facility may not be able to use this in the coming weeks until these repairs have been carried out.
JUBILEE PARK – the recent Queen’s Jubilee plaque for the ‘Canopy plant a tree for the Queen campaign’ has been broken off and found on the bench next to the tree. The enclosure which houses the tree was vandalised in 2 different places. The bench which was commissioned to honour The Queen was also recently vandalised by blue paint which has now seeped into the wood meaning the bench has a blue tinge rather than the original natural wood. Town Council staff have tried to sand the bench down but the paint has gone too far into the grain of the wood to be able to get it back to how it was. There was also a considerable amount of broken beer and wine bottles scattered across a large area of Jubilee Park, this could have been a danger to pets, wildlife and visitors.
BORDON INCLOSURE/ALEXANDRA PARK/LOCAL NATURE RESERVE
The town has these beautiful suitable areas of natural green spaces which recently have seen so much destruction/vandalism in particular to the new Way Finding signs which have been cut in half with a chainsaw, melted, ripped off their displays or graffiti has been sprayed onto them.
The Deadwater Valley Trust rangers whom manage these areas on behalf of Whitehill Town Council, have had to repair damaged gate latches, pick up excessive amounts of rubbish & glass and remove shopping trolleys or motor bikes from these areas and more recently deal with illegal unauthorised fires. All of which have taken valuable work hours away from their day-to-day responsibilities within these wonderful green space areas which we maintain for the wildlife and for residents to enjoy.
Whilst the Town Council has no control over the police Cllr Andy Tree, Leader of the Town Council, does meet with the police to push specific areas of concern such as anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and he has said that these meetings can be useful in passing on local trends.
That is why it is important to report ALL crime, even if the police are unable to take any further action, it still builds up a picture of what crime is taking place within our areas.
HOW TO REPORT A CRIME
- Call 101 (unless it is for 999)
- Report it online
- Report anonymously through CrimeStoppers: 0800 555 111
Please also continue to report any vandalism that you see within areas that we manage to the Town Council via our social media pages, or by email to info@whitehilltowncouncil.gov.uk or call the office on 01420 473123.
