On Friday 12 December, Melanie Ward MP, Member of Parliament for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, convened a Cowdenbeath Anti-Social Behaviour Summit, hosted by Shorty’s Social Club in Cowdenbeath. Shorty’s is one of the local businesses that has been impacted by the unacceptable behaviour of a small group of local young people.  

The event brought together the local Police Inspector and Community Sergeant; Deputy Head of Beath High School; local Chief Social Worker, as well as representatives from Cowdenbeath Community Council; Fife Council’s Safer Communities team; Street Pastors; Councillor Alex Campbell; Prospective Scottish Parliamentary Candidate Fiona Sword and many more. They discussed the issues facing the community, and agreed on fresh action to help tackle anti-social behaviour in the town.

Anti-social behaviour continues to be a significant issue for residents in the area, with a direct impact on the lives of many, especially women and older people, some of whom report no longer feel safe walking on the high street after it gets dark.

Following the talks, attendees committed to a number of new actions. These included establishing ‘Cowdenbeath Together’, a dedicated local anti-social behaviour taskforce; follow-up meetings between police, education and social work to discuss new measures needed to deal with persistent offenders; and increased police engagement with local businesses to see what extra support can be given to those suffering damage and repeat targeting. The police also reported that they would be running an intensive policing campaign against anti-social behaviour on the high street and surrounding areas during the Christmas period. The group agreed that the meeting was useful and productive, and that Melanie Ward MP should convene them for a second meeting in a few months’ time to assess progress and monitor any new developments.

Following the talks, Melanie Ward MP said:

“The kind of anti-social behaviour we have been seeing from a small group of local young people in Cowdenbeath is disgraceful and the impact it is having on local people and local businesses is unacceptable. Tackling this requires local leadership, and that is why I convened the Anti-Social Behaviour Summit to bring together key local services together to agree on fresh actions to tackle it. Everyone should feel safe when out and about in our communities. 

“I have already written to the SNP Scottish Government twice to outline my concerns about anti-social behaviour across my constituency including in Cowdenbeath but we have not received any additional support. It is clear that the local police need more resources. I also discussed this last week with Superintendent John Anderson from Fife Division of Police Scotland.

“Whilst most of our young people are model citizens, a tiny minority are causing damage to business in Cowdenbeath and making people feel scared. This cannot be allowed to continue. I’m grateful to everyone who took part in my Anti-Social Behaviour Summit in such an effective and constructive manner, and who agreed to increase the level of action to tackle this. I am grateful to Shorty’s for hosting and look forward to meeting again next year to discuss what progress has been made. In the meantime, I would encourage local residents to continue reporting any incidents that they witness to the police.”

The host of the meeting, and owner of Shorty’s Social Club Cowdenbeath, Thomas Wilson, said:

“At Shorty’s Social Club Cowdenbeath we hosted a meeting with local MP Melanie Ward and representatives from other local authorities. The discussion was in relation to anti-social behaviour in the community and how it’s affecting businesses. It was a very productive meeting and several points were raised and I am hopeful that there will be improvement on these matters.”