Madeley Matters

Special 4 page insert

November 2004

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Page 7 Sutton Hill & Woodside Views

To whom it may concern...

may I take this opportunity to thank you for Madeley Matters – it is so refreshingto read articles that really say it as it is. We on Woodside do not get much of this, as were consistently barraged with material which is far too glossy in fogging major issues and skipping around too many sensitive issues. I pick two great articles in Madeley Matters which highlight my point:

The Kate Fitchew article: well I bet the majority of people would fully endorse this and the frustration of being the forgotten area, which is very pungent as there are quite a few pro-active people from this area represented on the Woodside Regeneration Party. How long can we keep our enthusiasm we ask. Article two: Wow, what an uplifting and passionate article from Cllr Paul DOYLE, could not agree more, and it is fantastic to hear a councillor saying it how it is and actually supporting these young children who do not deserve nor merit the bad stereotype they are put in. To the rest of the councillors take note, I and many others have made comment on this article and have been impressed by his will to stand up and be counted in his fight to get activities for the children and meaning what others only promise “CHILDREN ARE OUR MOST PRECIOUS ASSET.

To support this we run the local Woodside Wanderers Football club and have been fortunate to be involved in the reclaiming of the disused grass area which we now train. This has been revamped by help from all T&WC, Sure Start, Children’s fund and of course ourselves. This has allowed many children, adults and families to play in a safe area, hence the name “ The Safe Green Grass Area”. The revamp has included benches, fences plastic waste bins etc. The area has not had one single bit of vandalism or graffiti, the bins which have not lasted five minutes elsewhere in Telford are still serving the purpose and are emptied and new bags replaced regular. Why is this I ask, I can only suggest it’s that we fought to keep the area for them, and the children appreciate this fact. This land is for them in times when the young have so much taken away from them.

Regards, Steve Butler

Resident on WOODSIDE – Chairman/Founder of Woodside Wanderers Football Club

A View from Sutton Hill

I have always enjoyed a good cowboy film, the good guys against the bad guys. Way out west a new town springs up with a main street that always had a general store, a few bars, a bank, stables, a blacksmith, and so on. But the new town would not have law and order until the locals paid to bring in a marshal who would round up the bad guys and drive them out of town. The marshal used the one tool available to him at the time, his six-shooter, to enforce the law and his success allowed the people to get on with their lives.

This summer Sutton Hill looked like a mini version of one of those early western towns without law and order. This did not happen overnight but is a result of the failure of the authorities over a long period. Gangs of out of control yobs, of all ages, roam the estate, hell-bent on making everyone’s life a misery. The centre, already a no go area at night, became a scary place even in the day. Verbal and even physical abuse became the norm to the point that some long-term residents would like to find a way out of Sutton Hill.

The tools available to the marshal, Anti Social Behaviour Orders (available since 1999), CCTV cameras (installed 2003) and Community Support Officers have not had the impact of the six-shooter they replaced. In fact, I am not aware of a single ASBO issued in Sutton Hill since their introduction five years ago. I am not aware of the CCTV output being used to identify a single trouble maker and bring them to book. The yobs demonstrated their total contempt for these cameras by destroying at least two of them. Now we have CSO’s who are rarely seen, ineffective and out of their depth with these yobs.

This summer marked a first for me. Never before have I been spat on by youngsters and been on the receiving end of obscene verbal abuse and threats from their parents. Never have I known such disrespect shown towards good people trying to hold a Sunday morning service in their church. Never before have I seen so many useless parents unable to control their offspring and unwilling to accept responsibility for their actions.

Welcome to Deadwood.

Paul Doyle – Chair Of Sutton Hill Residents Assoc.