Complaints about anti-social behaviour in Moray double
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Complaints to Moray Council about anti-social behaviour in Moray have nearly doubled within 12 months.
Police Scotland, meanwhile, also received double the number of reports from across the whole of Moray during the course of last year.
The force was contacted 3236 times by the public - the equivalent of about nine calls or emails a day - with just under half coming from Elgin.
The issue was discussed by the local authority during a wide-ranging debate on Tuesday.
Cllr Donald Gatt (Keith and Cullen, Conservative) said: “I’m dismayed by the level of anti-social behaviour that we’re being faced with.
“We all know that the police are understaffed and probably too busy as it is.
“It’s a level of anti-social behaviour that previous generations wouldn’t have tolerated at all.
“Poverty has been mentioned. Now, my youth was anything but salubrious, but I certainly didn’t cause mayhem for my fellow man. So I’m not entirely buying that excuse, if we can call it an excuse.
“There is some poverty in our society but it doesn’t follow that it should lead to anti-social behaviour. It stems, in my opinion, from a lack of self-discipline and probably discipline throughout society.”
Incidents reported to the police were largely concentrated within three areas of Elgin - the town centre, Cooper Park and the area around the bus station.
A report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting stated that, last summer, Stagecoach told the police its staff and customers were being verbally abused, intimidated, and threatened.
This, it added, had resulted in staff refusing to work certain shifts and, at one point, leaving the company at the rate of about one a week.
As regards the council, its community safety team received 1066 complaints in 2023, nearly twice the 548 from the year before.
The meeting heard that, in regard to housing owned by the local authority, three members of staff are taking on the role of tackling certain complaints
Welcoming this, Sandy Keith (Elgin North, Labour) said: “The communities out there need a little bit of a breather. If you’re living next-door to it – and I have had it in the past at a previous house where I lived – you need action taken.”
The meeting heard that complaints surrounding adults acting in an anti-social manner tended to be linked with neighbourhood disputes, dog fouling, noise, abandoned vehicles plus alcohol and drug-related conduct.
Meanwhile complaints about anti-social youths were “proportionally high”.
The report stated: “The free travel for young people has been linked to a rise in young people congregating in the towns, and in particular Elgin.
“Although the majority of young people congregating come from within Moray, a trend has been noted for young people coming in from the Highlands, Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen areas, with reports of a few young people coming from as far as Perth.
“There are some calls for free travel to be stopped, or restricted. However, most agencies in Moray agree that free travel itself is not the issue, as this ignores that the behaviour of some is the problem.
“Limiting or removing free travel could unnecessarily penalise the majority of young people, who do not engage in anti-social behaviour”.
Councillors were told that CCTV will be installed at the bus station, Lossie Green car park and Cooper Park.
