Chatham MP calls for action against 'boy racers' terrorising Snodland

KentOnline / KMTV

Tristan Osborne says he's writing to the police and crime commissioner to try and join agencies in the area to stop the loud noise and stress residents are experiencing.   We spoke to him on The Kent Morning Show earlier.

Transcript

00:00So this is, as you correctly said, a concern for many areas across Kent.

00:04Snodland in particular, however, has recently implemented a public space protection order,

00:09which is a power that councils have to basically go after boy races.

00:14And the concern of local councillors, and this is work that I am supporting,

00:19is that that public space protection order is not being enforced.

00:23And with regards to that, the local councillors have tabled a number of clear questions

00:28for the police and the council who are responsible for that order

00:32around how many fines are being issued, what proactive work are they doing around dispersal orders,

00:38and actually what they're doing to gain evidence through CCTV

00:42to ensure that those who are undertaking these really distressful antisocial actions

00:48are challenged robustly.

00:50And of course, these PSPOs, this was something under your sort of control

00:54when you were a councillor at Medway Council.

00:56Of course, now you're an MP, no longer a councillor,

00:59but has that left you in a bit of a difficult position

01:01where you actually could have implemented a lot more as a councillor

01:05and had more power to change things?

01:07And now as an MP, it seems like a step up,

01:11but perhaps you can't actually action what you want within the council anymore.

01:16Yeah, so a slight difference.

01:19This area wasn't the council area that I led on.

01:23So Stoddland is part of Tunbridge and Mauling Borough Council rather than Medway Council.

01:27But I understand your point around enforcement of PSPOs.

01:31That is partly the reason why, as part of the Police and Crime Bill

01:35that I'm working with colleagues on in Parliament,

01:37we're introducing much more robust powers around seizure of vehicles,

01:42including nuisance bikes and boy racer vehicles.

01:45And that law is passing through Parliament as we speak.

01:47But actually, these powers, PSPOs, elsewhere in the country are being enforced more robustly.

01:54And even within Kent, Dartford is a great example, and Medway,

01:58of where the number of boy racer meetings have significantly decreased

02:03because of the proactive work of police.

02:05So what we're saying is the police do excellent work,

02:08but we need to focus it in particular areas.

02:11And I will say Tunbridge and Mauling have had success in New Hyde Lane, in Larkfield.

02:15So they can, when pressed, deal with this issue.

02:18And all I'm asking is that Stoddland be giving that focus for the next several months.

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