Graffiti and littering scourge spoiling Falkirk skate park

The skate park facility in Falkirk’s Bellsmeadow Park is not just a gathering point for youngsters keen to show off and hone their skateboarding skills.

One householder and park user, who did not want to be named, said: “The skate park has become a magnet for youths and young adults to take drugs, drink alcohol, start fires, paint obscene graffiti on paths, trees and private house walls, litter everywhere and be extremely intimidating to passers by, who are walking with or without dogs.“The area has gone completely downhill with large groups of youths congregating within and outside the skate park. The area hardly gets cleaned up and during school term there are large volumes of litter dropped around the meadows area by the school children and I hardly ever see it being cleaned up.

“There is broken glass everywhere and dog walkers are fearful of injuries to their dogs – as well as the injuries that could happen to their small children who run around

there.”

The most recent incidents of anti-social behaviour include racist and graphic graffiti on paths.

“The kids use the bushes as a hide out where they drink,” said another resident. “They take drugs and urinate in public. I am just fed up with it all and the mess and disrespect for outside spaces.

"We want something to change and have been complaining about this since the skate park was built – but it has only gotten worse.”

Residents have brought the matter to the attention of their local councillors, who stated Falkirk Council services “take these matters very seriously” and were taking action to cover up the rude graffiti.

Police Scotland had to be called in to investigate matters in July last year following incidents of vandalism and racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic graffiti near the popular skate park.

The skate park was also the gathering point for youths at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as they chose to ignore the social distance rules and continued to gather there.