TWO Waverley borough councillors have praised the efforts of police and social workers at Roman Way, asserting that there is not a drug problem on the estate. The Herald reported of an incident on Thursday, July 20, at the cul de sac, depicting an alcohol-fuelled fracas, which continued for 20 minutes with protagonists attacking one another with baseball bats and a pick-axe handle. Four arrests were subsequently made and Waverley has issued warning letters to six households. Farnham Moor Park councillors Anne Mansell and Victor Scrivens penned a letter to residents of Roman Way last Wednesday. Aimed to "update" and "reassure", the letter comes "following the affray which recently occurred in the street in Roman Way". "Such behaviour is not acceptable to local residents and we fully understand and support efforts to make sure it is not repeated," it continued. Highlighting the work of WBC's anti-social behaviour officer and local police officers, it tells of warning letters issued by WBC with regard to breaches of conditions of tenancy to six households, and a multi-agency involvement with another household whose "occupiers have expressed a desire to change their behaviour". "We are further committed to ensuring that the residents of Roman Way can enjoy their rights to peaceful use and enjoyment of their homes and of the local community," the letter added. After admitting "there are one or two problems on the estate", Mrs Mansell said: "Headlines like that do not help." "When I delivered the letter, I found out that the majority of people certainly didn't know anything about it." Pointing to her humanitarian work as co- ordinator of Waverley Winterwatch - a homeless housing project - Mrs Mansell expressed her sympathy for the plight of those afflicted with addictions. "When you've seen things from the other side, you do realise what terrible messes these people get into. "Everybody is doing their best - but at the end of the day, the bottom line is the person involved has to say 'I want to stop'. "There may be drug addicts all over the place, but alcohol is a far worse problem than drugs. Forget the drug issue - you've got alcohol there. "And they have got to live somewhere - WBC has a duty to house people - and once housed, people have a tenancy agreement. If there are problems, then WBC can deal with it. "But the thing is that most of the help going on down there by social workers and housing officers is not seen," she added. Fellow councillor Victor Scrivens continued: "There is not a big problem with drugs on Roman Way. There were 22 drug-related arrests made across Surrey last week - none of them were in Farnham. "The more serious issue is cars without tax discs and cars that race though the road where there are children playing nearby. "Roman Way is a charming place, full of lovely people and we don't want to blow things up out of all proportion. It is a normal community with normal people." Referring to the incident, he said: "Look, this happens with the hot weather. People get excited and all sorts of things happen. You can cool this thing down by downplaying them, which is what I'm trying to do. And Mr Scrivens urged residents to report any suspicious incidents, should they occur - before promising to act. "People can come forward to us - there are numbers they can call, like the police and as local councillors they can get in touch with myself or Anne Mansell or WBC. "Take a note of the date, time, and place so we can act - if we don't know the information we can't act."
