Priory Gardens park and Carlton Parade Orpington 'rife' with drunks

Priory Gardens park and Carlton Parade sit in Orpington, towards the east of Bromley borough.

Peter Gowing, 42, said he visits Priory Gardens with his dog and child three times a week.

He said fly-tipping in a lane off the nearby shopping street, Carlton Parade, is “horrendous” and that there are often drunk people on the benches of the park, as well as children firing stones at ducks with catapults.

Carlton Parade in Orpington

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “My wife has felt a bit uneasy at times. Then you’ve got the kids with the catapults.

"I’ve never seen it myself but I’ve heard many stories of it. We’ve seen some of the dead birds, which is really sad.”

Bromley Council gave permission on November 20 for Lopeto Café, the café in the park, to stay open until 10pm each day and serve booze until half an hour beforehand.

Several residents had objected to the application, calling the area “rife” with alcoholics and fearing how the café serving booze would affect the issue.

Councillors considered this before approving the application but were satisfied that any public nuisance arising from the café would not be disproportionate.

Mr Gowing said: “The nice thing about the café is that now, a lot of the drunks that were there, I don’t see them as often because they don’t use the café. There’s a presence. It’s almost like a safe spot.”

Lee Johnston, 45, is the manager of QVS, the electrical shop on Carlton Parade.

He said the shop has been open on the street for 22 years and while drunks are frequent in the area, they rarely cause trouble.

Mr Johnston told the LDRS: “They can get a little bit loud sometimes, which I think a lot of people might find a bit intimidating.

"I can see that side of it. But we’ve never had any trouble from it at all. We wouldn’t put it down as anti-social behaviour but I suppose if someone’s quite elderly or a bit of a nervous disposition, they could probably read into that and see it that way.”

The shop manager said the alcoholics cause no more trouble than the local school pupils, who often mistakenly leave rubbish on the street outside.

He said there is an ongoing issue with rats in the alley behind the stores on the parade due to the volume of rubbish dumped there, which Bromley Council has recently told businesses to keep an eye out for.

Rubbish in the alley includes sofas and beds

Regarding pupils dropping litter after school, Mr Johnston said: “20 minutes beforehand, it’s like a deserted street and then half an hour after that, it’s like something out of a horror film. The floor is covered with wrappers, but it’s not intentional. They’re just bored.”

He added: “Every time you go out [to the alley], there’s more bin liners or a sofa or a bed. I think because there’s no cameras from right at the end of the road all the way down, and so many flats.

"You probably get about 40 or 50 cars an hour coming down there but there’s no record of it.”

Sal Ahmed, 61, has run the dry cleaners on Carlton Parade with his wife Chan, 53, for over 25 years.

The businesses owner said that he often sees alcoholics passing outside, albeit they do not cause a major issue for shoppers.

Mr Ahmed told the LDRS: “They don’t do anything violent but it just doesn’t look right really when there’s women with their kids walking from school and there’s blokes that are out of their head.”

The shop owner said that the business has also faced issues with the level of fly-tipping that occurs in the alley behind it.

They said they often see animals rummaging through the waste after it has been dumped.

Ms Ahmed said: “They’ll just leave it there and by the morning, obviously the foxes have been at it so it’s everywhere. Then you’ve got the rats.”

Mr Ahmed added: “I pick it up because if you leave it, it just seems to get worse because people see it and think, ‘Oh well, if it’s just me,’ it’s horrible. That’s the way it is unfortunately.”

Conservative Councillor Kim Botting, representing the Orpington ward, told the LDRS that she was fully aware of the anti-social and drunken behaviour within Priory Gardens.

She said she works closely with the council’s environmental officers and the Friends of Priory Gardens group. The councillor added that she has had regular contact with the police on the topic.

Cllr Botting added: “I attended the recent Orpington Safer Neighbourhoods Team meeting on December 13 where the issues were discussed and actioned by the police, such as the killing of wildlife including ducks and swans being shot and killed by youths with catapults.

"The police officers who attended are fully aware of the situation and have regular patrols in Priory Gardens to stop, arrest and catch the culprits.”

A Bromley Council spokesperson told the LDRS: “Priory Gardens is a beautiful and much-loved Grade II listed park, benefiting from a strong community presence and active Friends group, with the park set to be enhanced further as part of the Platinum Jubilee Parks Fund in due course.”

They added: “While any criminal activity should be reported to the police in the usual way, the council does take action against activities such as fly-tipping, with residents encouraged to report this through our website, with rewards available for information leading to prosecutions.”

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Picture 1: Carlton Parade sits in Orpington in Bromley borough. Permission for use by all LDRS partners. Credit: Joe Coughlan

Picture 2: Mr Johnston said rubbish in the alley includes sofas and beds. Permission for use by all LDRS partners. Credit: Joe Coughlan

Picture 3: Peter Gowing, 42, said fly-tipping in the area was “horrendous”. Permission for use by all LDRS partners. Credit: Joe Coughlan

Picture 4: A local said children have been known to fire stones at the ducks in Priory Gardens with catapults. Permission for use by all LDRS partners. Credit: Joe Coughlan