'It's never been this bad before... I don't feel safe'
| Published date | 13 September 2021 |
| Publication title | Evening Gazette |
The special meeting was arranged after the previous week's events on Kendal Road, which saw a group of youths allegedly pelting officers with eggs and other items.
One woman, in her 70s, spoke with tears in her eyes: "I've never known this area to be so bad. When I moved here it was a beautiful place to live, but I certainly don't feel safe anymore."
"Last week there was a motorbike burnt outside the GP and a little girl was nearly run over by a motorbike shooting past.
"When a family member of mine reported the latter incident to the police, she had her windows smashed in and eggs thrown at her. She's had to flee the house since."
Acting Chief Inspector for Hartlepool, Mark Howarth, responded by making an appeal for families living on the estate to work with police.
He said: "We need to come together, to set up a working group and to have an open conversation.
"This is the starting block. It's a minority causing the problems, but we all have a responsibility for making Belle Vue a nice place to live.
"We need to show young people the right way to behave, and encourage them to get involved with the community."
He pledged to crack down on anyone carrying out or supporting criminal behaviour, but made clear that he wasn't blaming anyone in particular.
"We can't have criminal damage, motorbikes injuring people or windows being put out" he said.
"I will target individuals that are allowing this behaviour to continue, and anybody who causes problems for those reporting to the police will go the top of my list."
Co-chair of the residents association Eileen Thompson believes many of Belle Vue's problems are due to the conduct of private landlords.
She explained: "Landlords don't seem to be vetting the occupants. People come for six months and move on, and treat the place like a dumping ground.
"We don't want to expel anyone from the community, we'd just like the temporary residents to engage with us and behave."
This sentiment was echoed by a frustrated 61-year-old resident, who has many family members on the estate.
She explained: "Around a decade ago, the council knocked down the steel houses here, and they promised regeneration.
"And since then, with the introduction of more and more private landlords, the place has...
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