Last weekend was a scorcher in Dundee. The temperature on Saturday was 22˚ C (OK, laugh if you will, but that’s hot for us and it was warmer than the Mediterranean), there was little or no wind, and Dundonians en masse, it seems, took to the local beach at Broughty Ferry. And rightly so!
What wasn’t so right was that they left the beautiful Blue Flag beach (pictured), one of only seven in Scotland, just days before there was to be a ceremony to celebrate its second Blue Flag year, like a tip. Rubbish was strewn all over; people seemed to think that, just because there weren’t sufficient waste paper bins that the beach was a suitable repository for their rubbish. Cans, and worse, bottles were left along with discarded food wrappers. Even dirty disposable nappies were left on the beach for other people to enjoy in the heat of the afternoon.
Worse was yet to come. Someone advertised a beach party at the children’s recreation park next to the beach on Facebook, and over 200 people turned up, got drunk and trashed the place doing an estimated five figure sum of damage to what was a fantastic play area for kids.
Apparently the response of the Tayside Police was to send two Community Support Officers down to tell them to behave. And as you can see from the picture, that didn’t work. I know the police are busy on Saturday nights, but given that there were 200 drunken kids in a park wrecking the place, I think they might have been able to muster more than two CSOs.
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Several weeks ago the beautiful Barnhill Rock Gardens (pictured) were vandalized, not for the first time, by people who thought that that was a neat way to spend a Saturday evening. You have to wonder at what goes through the heads of kids when that is the way they choose to enjoy themselves. It really makes you hope that next weekend it rains and sleets. At least perhaps some of our hard worked for facilities might be left intact on Monday morning.
What wasn’t so right was that they left the beautiful Blue Flag beach (pictured), one of only seven in Scotland, just days before there was to be a ceremony to celebrate its second Blue Flag year, like a tip. Rubbish was strewn all over; people seemed to think that, just because there weren’t sufficient waste paper bins that the beach was a suitable repository for their rubbish. Cans, and worse, bottles were left along with discarded food wrappers. Even dirty disposable nappies were left on the beach for other people to enjoy in the heat of the afternoon.
Worse was yet to come. Someone advertised a beach party at the children’s recreation park next to the beach on Facebook, and over 200 people turned up, got drunk and trashed the place doing an estimated five figure sum of damage to what was a fantastic play area for kids.
Apparently the response of the Tayside Police was to send two Community Support Officers down to tell them to behave. And as you can see from the picture, that didn’t work. I know the police are busy on Saturday nights, but given that there were 200 drunken kids in a park wrecking the place, I think they might have been able to muster more than two CSOs.
.jpg)
Several weeks ago the beautiful Barnhill Rock Gardens (pictured) were vandalized, not for the first time, by people who thought that that was a neat way to spend a Saturday evening. You have to wonder at what goes through the heads of kids when that is the way they choose to enjoy themselves. It really makes you hope that next weekend it rains and sleets. At least perhaps some of our hard worked for facilities might be left intact on Monday morning.
