Never let it be said that Liberal Democrat councillors avoid hard work. When a skateboard park in his ward was damaged, Aberystwyth’s Councillor Ceredig Davies (also our group leader on Ceredigion County Council) arranged to get down there and fix it.
Some local people didn’t see it that way. What they saw was a random man taking a sledgehammer to a local facility, as the Cambrian News tells us:
Three police cars rushed to respond to reports of a man wielding a sledge hammer in Aberystwyth’s skateboard park, only to find a town councillor demolishing damaged ramps.
Town Cllr Ceredig Davies — the “man with a sledge hammer” — was more than a little surprised to see six police officers surround him on Thursday afternoon, as he was making safe sharp and dangerous pieces of equipment in the park.
Police did not have far to go to get to the scene, the skateboard park being only about 100 yards from Aberystwyth police station.It is understood that the alarm was raised by a customer in the Starling Cloud public house, which sits opposite the skateboard park on Park Avenue.
And a police spokesperson said: “Police received a report at 12.26pm on Thursday, 19 February, that a man, in possession of a sledge hammer, was damaging the ramps in the skatepark.
“Police attended, and it was est ablished that the male was authorised to dismantle equipment. No further police action was required.”
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10 Comments
Headline made me think the rozzers had sledgehammers and were threatening the councillor with them. Bleedin’ clickbait 😛
Sounds like good neighbourhood watching to me.
He couldn’t take the pre-Electoral tension anymore, he just snapped and started smashing! Know how he feels. 🙂
Er, fair enough Councillor, but, if you go down to the park on your own wielding a sledgehammer, it is actually rather likely that people will call the police on you, isn’t it?
Mightn’t it be an idea to take a colleague, stick up some official masking tape, have a yellow signboard that says Work In Progress, etcetera?
Slegehammer: useful campaigning tool 🙂
I found that whatever I was doing someone (opposition?) would report me.. classic was having a bonfire(quite a big one in fairness) and the fire brigade turned up, blue lights flashing..
One resident’s dangerous overhanging branch is another resident’s green sanctuary. Glad I didnt take a saw to that one myself.
@Peter tyzack – I presume you were grateful it was only the fire brigade – who probably stepped in and help you (safely) burn all those boxes of incriminating papers 🙂 🙂
I agree with Anne, I’d rather live somewhere where people do keep an eye out for suspicious behaviour than one where every one turns a blind eye, then appear suitably shocked under the media attention when something happens.
@Peter – My classic was a few years back when my children were toddlers. One summer weekend ‘youths’ had been partying in the kids play area leaving it covered in broken glass. Given the ground was dry and having a powerful hoover, I could power from the car, and a child that wanted to play, the solution was obvious… I had an interesting conversation with the community support officers…
@ Anne,
I agree.