Action on Community Safety

After the state of the town's buildings, community safety was the issue most often raised by Darvel residents when they were asked what they were not so keen on.
In the Residents call for joined-up action on community safety
ity Views Survey for the Darvel Community Action Plan 2014–2019, 31% of respondents named community safety and anti-social behaviour as a concern. Residents spoke of feeling unsafe or vulnerable on the street at night, and of the lack of a visible police presence. Some linked local problems to drug misuse.
Housing was a related theme. The town's community profile showed that most homes in Darvel were owner-occupied, at a higher rate than in East Ayrshire or Scotland, but the council still owned more than 360 properties, with 111 people on the waiting list for council housing. In the survey, 8% of respondents raised housing policy or ownership as a concern, and some residents expressed worry about the condition of council properties on the Main Street.
The plan reported a view in the community that housing allocation policy had brought problems into the town from elsewhere and was beginning to change its character. These were strongly held views. The plan's response, however, was not to single anyone out but to call for partnership: it asked the local authority housing department and local police to work closely with the community to address the issue.
Reducing anti-social behaviour was made the first priority under the plan's Community Safety, Care and Transport theme. The proposed actions were:
• joint discussions between the community, the local authority's housing and social work departments and local police, on anti-social behaviour and its links to housing allocation policy
• a joint initiative to reduce and resolve the problems identified
The Community Council, East Ayrshire Council and Police Scotland were named to lead the work.
The plan's other priorities pointed to the same goal from different directions. A youth club or café would give teenagers somewhere to go. Bringing derelict buildings back into use would remove some of the empty, neglected spaces residents disliked. Better lighting at the skate park and safe routes to school would make public spaces feel safer.
It is worth remembering the balance in the survey. While almost a third of residents raised safety concerns, an even larger share – 39% – named community spirit and friendliness as one of the best things about Darvel. The plan's approach reflected that: safety was treated as something the community would tackle together, with the agencies responsible, rather than as a reason to turn on its own.