POLICE are calling for a united campaign to improve facilities for teenagers in Tavistock following vandalism attacks in The Meadows. Sgt Dave Anning said Tavistock had little in the way of facilities for teenagers aside from the skateboard park and was way behind West Devon's other main town of Okehampton. Following a report in the Times highlighting the town council's disgust at the latest attacks, when bins were set alight, Sgt Anning said the onus was now on the town to provide something for young people to do. He said: 'There are several play parks in the town but they are for smaller children. As a town Tavistock has got to provide better facilities.' He said the lead agencies were the town, borough and county councils but the police were acting as a liaison and trying to get everyone around the table: 'Our police community support officer Kevin Williams is acting as the pivot,' he said. 'We want to make sure everybody is involved and aware of what everyone is doing.' Sgt Anning said a free, multi-use games area (MUGA), used for all sorts of sports from tennis and hockey to basketball would be a great asset to The Meadows. It would be an alternative to the new football facilities being funded by the Football Foundation at Crowndale. Sgt Anning said: 'I am concerned the new development at Crowndale may goahead without consideration of those young people who won't want or won't be able to afford the use of these facilities. 'As a consequence we may see a problem arise with it being damaged. A MUGA in The Meadows would probably go a long way to preventing this by providing viable, free facilities nearby.' A MUGA would cost between £45,000 and £65,000. The sergeant said it may be that the project would be suitable for the £10,000 which county councillor for the town Roy Connelly had to spend on local projects. 'If this was match funded you would be half way there already,' he said. 'It is time Tavistock caught up with Okehampton because it is nearly twice the size but does not have anything like the facilities.' Cllr Connelly said the good thing about the locality £10,000 budget awarded to each Devon county councillor was that it could be spentwith immediate effect and it was not necessary to go through all the usual bureaucracy. In the past he has given money to the Dartmoor Rescue Group, a new community bus and the youth cafe. Bids have to be made for the money and there is expected to be lots of competition from other equally worthy projects. The decision will be made by the four county councillors in the West Devon area. Tavistock's deputy town clerk Rosie Kehoe said there was a playpark budget but that was mainly for spending on repairing and refurbishing equipment in all the town's parks. 'We are hoping to set up a Friends of the Meadows group with residents, parents and other interested parties to formulate a plan for the park,' she said. 'A friends group can have all sorts of access to grants that the town council cannot have direct access to.'
