VANDALISM, under-age drinking and drug taking on Lion Green were the subject of heated debate at a public meeting this week.

On the agenda were proposals for a youth shelter to give local teenagers something better to do.

More than 20 residents and town councillors attended a meeting of Haslemere's police and community partnership group at the Methodist Church Hall on Monday.

The panel of speakers included Inspector Andrea Wood, Ken MacSween from Surrey Youth Services, and crime reduction advisor John Robini.

However, during public question time, several residents said they were not impressed with the response to the problems at the Wey Hill end of town.

Lion Green residents Tony and Wendy Peacock said they were very unhappy at the level of crime they had experienced in the past year.

"Someone attempted to stab my husband outside the Esso garage, our car has been broken into, our neighbours have had their bin set on fire, and had an attempted burglary," Mrs Peacock said.

Mr Peacock said that his youngest daughter didn't want to go to the Lion Green swings because of broken glass that had been left there.

"I wouldn't take my dog there. Are these kids going to pay for the vet's bill to take the glass out of his feet?" he asked. "Why do you want to build another place for young people to smoke their drugs, drink their drink? It doesn't make sense."

The couple then walked out of the meeting, angry and unsatisfied with the panel's responses.

Chairman and Haslemere town councillor Jacquie Keen explained that the meeting was about finding a way forward and discussing the issues.

"There are problems with vandalism, and huge problems with Lion Green," Mrs Keen said.

"There have been concerns for many years that have not been addressed and have now come to a head."

Haslemere town clerk Mike O'Neil read highlights from a two-page list of incidents that have been reported on Lion Green in recent months.

"Play equipment the town council had painted was sprayed with graffiti within a week, and had to be repainted a few weeks later," he said.

The children's swings have been padlocked, broken glass has been left on the slides, and glass placed in the chains of the swings. Rubbish bins haves been upturned or set on fire; benches have been broken and some have been covered with candle wax.

"On one day of picking up empty drinks bottles, the council's contractor collected 20 plastic bags full," Mr O'Neil continued.

Evidence of drug use has also been found, including used hypodermic needles and other drug taking equipment.

Bags of flour have been scattered on the green, and sets of clothing, underwear, condoms, and tampons have been found in the bushes.

Mr O'Neil said that the annual costs for picking up litter was £2,000 and £1,500 was needed for repairs to the swings and insurance. This has now doubled to £7,000 for this year's budget.

John Robini read out a list of crime reported in the area in the past year, but wanted to remind the audience that Waverley is still the safest borough in the safest county in the country.

In Shottermill, there were 112 reported crimes, 90 in Wey Hill, 31 on Lion Green and 10 in Lion Lane.

A local shopkeeper said that the community had to give young people something to do.

"We provide them with shopping trolleys to throw into the stream and bollards to steal," another man replied.

"There was a shelter ten years ago that was smashed up and this one will be smashed up too. I've paid enough in council tax over the years; now it's over £1,000."

Other complaints included people being too scared to get out of their cars at at night, and pornography being pushed through letter boxes.

One woman, who worked at the Co-op, asked why the police didn't take young people home to their parents when they caused trouble.

Inspector Wood said that if they haven't committed an offence, the police had no power to do anything.

Mr Robini believed that one solution could be increased CCTV coverage.

"A lot of money has been invested in CCTV, and it's just about to be installed in the town," he continued.

"We're not getting a lot of crimes reported, so we'll use the camera in the Lion Green area to see what is going on. CCTV is very good at both deterring and detecting."

The retired policeman went on to praise the efforts of Neighbourhood Watch specialist Ralph Swindell in helping to bring down crime and communicate with the young.

He also proposed the construction of wooden shelters on Lion Green for young people to use. The cost of a shelter ranges from £4,000 to £20,000.

"Young people could help raise the money, maybe form a committee, to demonstrate they have responsibility," Mr Robini said."We would also have to raise money from the town council and other sources."

Ken MacSween, a guest speaker from Surrey Youth Services said that a "detached youth project" set up four years ago in Haslemere had proved successful at the time.

"We found that in co-ordination with the local police officers, speaking to local shopkeepers and young people, we fairly quickly brought down the activities to a level people were reasonably happy with," he said.

However, Mr MacSween came in for criticism for using "jargon" and speaking in terms the audience did not understand.

Continued from Page One

His example of turning something negative like graffiti into something positive like an art competition, had a mixed response.

Town councillor Ted Orchard proposed that the whole youth service be scrapped and started over. "Kids want activity and adventure, but they're not getting it," he said.

"Instead they play computer games, watch videos and TV. I propose we keep the Wey Centre open and use it for discos and gigs."

Mr MacSween said that the proposals for a new library in the Wey Centre would provide more youth facilities.

Town councillor Mary Foryszewski and Mrs Keen argued that the community had to accept that Lion Green has always been a place where young people choose to congregate.

"There is a huge variety of things they can do, but some just want to socialise," Mrs Foryszewski said.

She added that people had to be careful in generalising that all teenagers commit vandalism.

Both councillor Peter Isherwood and the mayor, Stephen Mulliner, questioned the absence of Beacon Hill's "beat bobby" but the meeting was told he was on extended sick leave and the position could not be filled by someone else.

Mr Mulliner said that this effectively meant there were only two police officers for the whole of Haslemere and Hindhead, whereas years ago there were 12.

"I sympathise, but when I do see any police presence, I'm obliged to go over and say 'hello, welcome"," said Mr Mulliner.