“VULNERABLE people are going to get hurt,” Wokingham residents have warned, as car meets continue to take place in Wokingham town centre.
Over the past year, motorists have allegedly been using Carnival Pool car park late at night, “speeding up and down the ramps” and disturbing households living nearby.
Now, residents are urging Wokingham Borough Council to take action and block access to the site before somebody gets seriously injured.
Rebecca Price, whose name has been changed, lives near the multi-story car park. She said drivers began meeting at Carnival Pool in November 2019.
“It’s been an ongoing and extremely distressing situation,” she said. “It’s become really, really unpleasant living close by.”
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According to Ms Price, motorists have been visiting the car park multiple times a week and blocking access to the upper levels. They then allegedly backfire their engines while speeding throughout the site.
“When it first started it was quite fierce,” she said. “It was a real safety issue for families with children who used the car park for the bowling alley.”
Fellow Wokingham resident Neil Carter, whose name has been changed, told Wokingham.Today that the car park is being treated as a “free for all”.
“People are tooting their horns, racing about, and at some point, somebody vulnerable is going to get run over,” he added.
‘Our mental health is suffering’
Now, residents are concerned about the impact on their mental health, as anti-social behaviour continues at the site.
Ms Price said it has left a lot of residents “very disgruntled, unhappy and dissatisfied”.
“The car meets have affected me quite considerably, and at points I feel that I’m having a breakdown because I don’t enjoy living here,” she said. “It’s my right to live in my own home and not have to endure this noise every night of the week.
“It’s a real imposition, and fundamentally wrong.”
‘We feel helpless’
Mr Carter said he has reached out to Wokingham Borough Council more than 40 times to find a resolution, and made 24 formal complaints to Thames Valley Police.
“I have been told constantly by the borough council to phone the police, but the police don’t attend antisocial behaviour calls,” Mr Carter said. “I feel like I’m wasting police time.
“The council also gave me an app to record the sound levels, but why do I have to spend my evening doing that?”
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Ms Price, who has also been in touch with the council, said the response has been “woeful”.
“They’re not interested, they don’t care, and they’re not proactive,” she said. “They have not taken responsibility and have not found practical ways of helping us.
“Nothing is being done to stop this.”
Mr Carter and Ms Price are now urging the borough council to either install barriers to the car park, to stop people accessing the site 24 hours a day, or man the area with security guards.
Effective action needed
Cllr Maria Gee, Cllr for Wescott Ward, accused the borough council of failing to take “effective action”.
“People are at their wits’ end,” she said. “They are having their whole lives disturbed.
“It’s a failure on behalf of anybody who is responsible for the car park, and the residents have been suffering.
“If Wokingham Borough Council don’t tackle this, nobody will want to use the car park at all and revenue will go down the toilet.”
Now, Cllr Gee is backing residents’ calls to reinstate barriers at the car park.
“They should reinstall barriers on the way in and way out,” Cllr Gee said. “And don’t let anybody in after 6pm, when the leisure centre shuts, but let people leave.
“I think that’s reasonable and I don’t see any other action that can be taken.”
‘We have an obligation’
Council leader John Halsall said Wokingham Borough Council is working alongside the police to stamp out anti-social behaviour.
He said the council plans to bring its public protection partnership services inhouse, and work has already begun with the localities team patrolling the Carnival area.
“I think we have an obligation to find a way of getting through to [young people],” he said. “I don’t have all the answers but nobody in 10,000 years of history has had the answers.
“Youth is by definition youth: funny and rebellious.”
He suggested redirecting young people’s energy into sports and leisure activities.
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A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “[TVP] takes all reports of anti-social behaviour seriously and we will always respond to incidents that affect our communities the most, particularly where threat, harm and risk is at its greatest.
“We are aware of reports of such incidents occurring in Wokingham, and we would like to reassure the public that patrols are ongoing as part of our commitment to deal with anti-social behaviour and drug use in the community.
“We would like to remind residents to report any such incidents to police so that they can be looked into and dealt with properly.
“Anyone with information on such incidents is asked to make a report by either going online, or calling 101.”
Wokingham Borough Council was contacted for comment.
