Vandalism, litter and graffiti

One of the most shameful of our current social crimes is vandalism because it has no motive and there is no gain for the perpetrators. Those who are responsible for the wilful damage of personal or public property are often unable to give an explanation as to why they target a particular building or edifice other than that it happens to be there when they are in a destructive mood and often fired by strong drink. The morose and sullen reply by the guilty when asked to clarify their conduct is usually an inane retort that reflects their mindless stupidity because even they have little idea why they should roam the locality wrecking everything in sight although remorse for their actions is invariably sadly lacking. 

The Vandals of history were a Teutonic people related to the Goths and in the 5th century they moved from North Germany to invade Roman Gaul and Spain, and after much bloodshed many settled in Andalusia and others reaching North Africa. They occupied Rome in the year 455 AD and plundered the city, despoiling it of its treasures of art and literature, but a century later accepted Roman suzerainty and thus ended the history of this independent tribe. The name has since been used for those who wilfully or ignorantly indulge in the destruction of works of art and is now applied to most forms of wanton damage. 

The causing of malicious damage during civil demonstrations against government and state has frequently been justified as the means for the cause and that is arguable but the indiscriminate destruction of property for no apparent reason is inexcusable and this is at the heart of the matter.

Bourne has much the same problem with vandalism as most other towns and cities in Britain but being of modest size, serious cases of criminal damage are more noticeable and receive greater publicity. In recent years, there have been a number of attempts to burn down the pavilion headquarters of the Bourne Town Football Club on the Abbey Lawn while the pitch at the adjoining Bourne Cricket Club has been damaged on several occasions. Smashed windows occur in the town most weekends and new graffiti appears on walls and hoardings almost daily.

In March 2001, vandals systematically attacked road signs around the town, mainly in the North Road area where half a dozen were wrecked over one weekend. Over the Bank Holiday weekend in August 2002, the telephone kiosk in North Road was wrecked by vandals using an estate agent's sign that had been uprooted from a nearby front garden as a battering ram. The town centre was littered with rubbish and broken glass with West Street being particularly affected on Sunday and Monday mornings, the pavements and gutters filled with the debris from a weekend's holiday and not a street cleaner in sight. It looked as though a loaded dustcart had driven through in a gale force wind, scattering litter as it went. 

In September 2002, one of the council rubbish bins in Queen's Road was reduced to a pile of mangled metal, a feat that must have taken some combined strength. There was also more vandalism at the junction of Queen's Road with Harrington Street, a favourite spot for many people to sit down on the public bench which had been systematically wrecked, leaving only one section of wooden slats and the metal upright. The following month, the telephone kiosk in North Road was wrecked for a second time together with another round the corner in Northfields.

Public toilets are a particular target for vandals and a small block of conveniences for both ladies and gents on the edge of the playing fields in Recreation Road was closed down in 1998 because of continuing criminal damage. Basins were regularly ripped from the walls, the lavatories broken and young couples were often found there having sex. The building has since been leased to Bourne Town Junior Football Club for storage purposes at a peppercorn rent of £1 a week. 

The public toilets in South Street were also closed by South Kesteven District Council in October 2002 with little likelihood of them being re-opened because of vandalism while a third block of conveniences at the town's bus station were also badly damaged within days of them being renovated.

Trees are another favourite target and in recent months, four saplings planted along the verge in North Road by the town's Rotary Club as their contribution to the environment have been snapped off at the base, and are therefore irrecoverable, while in Recreation Road, a tree was even uprooted and left lying at the roadside.

Few people in Bourne think very much about vandalism unless it happens to them and, as with other towns and cities throughout Britain, because much of it is directed towards the town centre. If their own garden fence were torn down, hanging baskets proudly displayed at the front of the house thrown into the road, the paintwork of cars standing in the driveway defaced with sharp metal objects, windows smashed and graffiti spray-painted over the brickwork, then they would demand action, firstly from the police who would not respond because vandalism is a low priority, and then from their Neighbourhood Watch group, if there was one, who would be powerless anyway. 

Anti-social behaviour causes pain, discomfort and damage to other people and their property and the following contribution was submitted to the Bourne Internet web site in June 2002. The author was anonymous but gave a heartfelt and graphic description of life in an area of Bourne where vandalism was allowed to reign unchecked:

Vandalism is not new. It has always been with us but the problem has been aggravated in recent years because the culprits are less likely to be caught and punished, mainly because the police take little interest and rarely even turn out to investigate. The threat of prosecution, an appearance before the courts and a suitable punishment, would lead to a subsequent stigmatisation by family and society that would work wonders in focussing the minds of those contemplating smashing up public or private property just for the fun of it. 

Litter is also a continuing problem in Bourne and a survey by the Keep Britain Tidy campaign in October 2002 decided that we were still a nation of litterbugs. The results indicated that 25 million tonnes of rubbish were dropped in the streets and other public places of Britain every year, making the country look a mess and costing a fortune to clear up. Changes in the way we live seem to be exacerbating the problem because more packaged food is eaten in the street, more people chew gum and the majority have lost the habit of using a bin. Poor planning of cleaning and refuse collections are making the problem worse and street sweeping fails to collect all of the dust and soil in the gutters and so allows weeds to grow. The proliferation of fast food shops in Bourne has proved to be a particular source of street rubbish.

But headway is being made in some places although it is doubtful if we will ever be as clean as Singapore for instance, where anyone who drops litter faces a £1,000 fine plus community service, or Dubai, where the streets are among the world's cleanest.

The Keep Britain Tidy survey was carried out at 11,000 sites across 54 boroughs in England and Bourne was included in the East Midlands region which was assessed as follows: 

Obstructions on pavements were causing problems and were rated poor. Councils here were good at cleaning toilets and removing fly posting, graffiti and leaves. The region looked after lamp-posts better than anyone else - getting them a satisfactory grade. They were also okay on cleaning the pavements outside public lavatories and removing weeds. But everything from clearing up litter to looking after bins was graded unsatisfactory. 

The bus shelter opposite the old peoples' homes in Manning Road 
after it was vandalised in March 2003.

Individual towns were not named in the survey but a simple check will show the problem here in Bourne. Fast food wrappers, cartons and tins are everywhere while pizza packets have become a favourite throwaway in recent months and a walk around the streets on a Sunday morning will reveal at least half a dozen that have been chucked away the night before. Dog fouling and broken glass are also a problem and weeds in the street are not unknown to us either. At the time the survey was published, there were many examples in Bourne itself, around the traffic lights and the paved area outside the Burghley Arms and the Town Hall as well as many other places in the town centre, especially along West Street.

Vandalism and litter in public places demeans the entire town for it is seen by visitors who judge us accordingly. There are those who will say that they occur in all communities but that is not an acceptable excuse because many are striving to overcome it with some success. We too should try to improve our habits but merely accepting the status quo means no improvement to our environment which will sink further into the abyss of urban deprivation that can be found in our worst inner cities. Not only does our quality of life suffer but also our local economy because no one likes to shop in a town where such anti-social behaviour is so manifestly obvious.

These trees, mountain ash saplings each about six feet tall, were planted by members of the Rotary Club of Bourne in the spring of 2003 along the grass verges in North Road, a most attractive improvement to this thoroughfare which is also the main A15 trunk road and therefore the most frequently seen by people passing through. The trees, just coming into blossom, therefore gave our town a most pleasing aspect and they were a delight to see.

On Saturday night, May 3rd, vandals moved in and destroyed three of the saplings, breaking two of the stems completely while a third was wrenched from its support. Earlier, a fourth had been uprooted together with its securing post and dumped some distance away at the end of Mill Drove. The final 24 trees planted by Rotarians as part of this project had been put in place by members only a few days before and residents living in the vicinity offered refreshments to the men as they worked as a gesture of appreciation. This was the thanks they got from drunken louts rolling home full of lager-fuelled bravado and intent on destroying anything in sight. The volunteers who put in so much time and effort to improve our town deserve better. 

There was a similar trail of damage left along North Road shortly before Christmas 2004. On the night of Saturday 18th December, ten trees along the grass verge were destroyed, estate agents' signs smashed, a wire security fence around a housing development site alongside Mill House torn down, an electricity cable marker toppled and, in one of the most wanton acts so far, a Royal Mail box uprooted. The damage to the trees was becoming a regular occurrence and the wrecking of the mail box at the top of Stephenson Way was particularly regrettable because it was put there to serve the community and was particularly necessary at that time of the year when the volume of mail is much heavier than usual. There were more demands from the community for a police presence at this vulnerable spot, especially at weekends, but nothing was done.

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2005

See also     Rubbish    Wherry's Lane     Sempringham

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