Residents say they don’t feel safe visiting Cardiff city centre at night

Kieran Molloy

People living in a Cardiff suburb have said they don’t feel safe visiting the city centre in the evenings as police say they are working to address the issue.

In a council meeting last week Cllr Calum Davies, a Conservative member, told Cardiff councillors the city centre has become a “no-go zone” for many of his constituents in Radyr.

In a scathing statement, Cllr Davies said the area had been taken over by “selfish, anti-social pot heads”.

The claims came during a debate on whether to introduce a public space protection order (PSPO) in the city centre.

Cllr Davies, who represents the ward of Radyr and Morganstown, said more needed to be done, which was echoed by some other locals this week.

Maureen Giles, 75, who also lives in Radyr, said she did not “entirely” agree that the city centre had become a “no-go zone” but admitted she wouldn’t go there at night. She said she had seen people “fighting, screaming, drinking in the streets, foul language and shouting at people”. She added: “It certainly has got worse in recent years, I think.”

Sarah Westall, from Radyr, agreed with Cllr Giles. “If you go during the day there’s always people around so that you can be safe,” she said. “I wouldn’t go into Cardiff at night.” Ms Westall added that more should be done to “help people that are on drugs and are drinking too much and have nowhere to sleep”.

Cllr Davies said: “Residents in my ward have told me that they don’t feel safe going to the city centre due to increasing levels of anti-social behaviour.

“As our motion recognised, Cardiff city centre has a lot to offer, but we would be burying our heads in the sand if we didn’t acknowledge and try to tackle blatant drug abuse and dealing on the streets. This is on top of dangerous cycling and general harassment of people trying to go about their business.

“This is why we proposed a PSPO as the first step in tackling this troubling trend and why it was so disappointing that other councillors did not support it.”

Criticism 

He has received some criticism from other Radyr locals over his comments. Radyr resident Jeremy Hughes, 56, said anti-social behaviour needs to be “stamped out” with the police having more powers to tackle the issues, but he was critical of the councillor’s comments.

Mr Hughes said compared to other UK cities Cardiff looks “very safe and non-hostile”. He added: “I find it daft that a local councillor is slagging off his own city centre. Surely you should be there to promote and see prosperity rather than run the place down. That achieves nothing in my opinion. It’s utterly stupid.”

An amended motion was passed instead that agreed to refer the matter to the Community Safety Partnership to consider if it would be an effective and proportionate means of addressing the issue or whether alternative inventions were more appropriate.

The Community Safety Partnership is a multi-agency body aimed at tackling crime, disorder, substance misuse, anti-social behaviour and to safeguard people from abuse, exploitation and harm.

Cllr Davies continued: “I agree that vulnerable people like rough sleepers need help, but there are plenty of people making the city centre unpleasant who are not at all in that position and simply have no manners or sense of shame.

“It is not right that law-abiding, taxpaying residents in Cardiff feel like the city centre is not for them. For those who don’t feel like this, I say I am merely trying to ensure that everyone can have the same confidence as you when they go there.”

Concerns

Neighbourhood policing inspector Joseph Smith said: “Millions of people visit Cardiff city centre every year to shop, work, and socialise. It is unfortunate that some are reluctant to visit and I would like to reassure anyone who may have reservations that Cardiff is a safe city.

“That being said, we are aware of the concerns from our community with regards to anti-social behaviour and tackling these issues remains a priority for the city centre policing team.

“Since September we have deployed extra dedicated police officers to the city centre itself. This helps to ensure a constant uniformed presence, which is especially important during high profile events as it helps deter and respond quickly to crime and anti-social behaviour.

“We are actively seeking protection orders and criminal behaviour orders to ban persistent offenders from the city centre and just last week a persistent offender who had been banned was spotted by officers, arrested and remanded at court.

“A recent enforcement operation also led to the seizure of 13 e-bikes which were being used illegally. So I would like to reassure the people of Cardiff and beyond that keeping the city centre safe is a key priority of mine and this work will continue to ensure everything our vibrant city centre offers can be enjoyed by everyone.”

Crack down

A Cardiff council spokesperson said: “Since the beginning of 2023 a new team of council officers, supported by the Shared Prosperity Fund, has been patrolling the streets of the city centre, working with South Wales Police and other partners to crack down on antisocial behaviour.

“The number of people visiting the city centre continues to rise, as shown by data collected from CCTV cameras across the city. The team works closely with a range of authorities to tackle and report issues as they arise. This includes working with the outreach team to support rough sleepers; clamping down on aggressive begging; ensuring people do not cycle in areas where cycling is prohibited; working with the police to seize illegal electric bikes; and reporting any criminal activity directly to the police.”

During the debate on January 29 other councillors opposed the creation of a PSPO. Cllr Rodney Berman, a Liberal Democrat member, said there were “undoubtedly” problems in the city centre but by “hastily” instituting a PSPO the council risks “suddenly” creating “the beginnings of a police state in Cardiff”.

Labour councillor Bernie Bowen-Thomson, who proposed the amended motion, said a PSPO “offers the wrong approach and the wrong conclusions”. She added: “The Conservative approach jumps straight to enforcement through a PSPO as if it were a silver bullet and it certainly is not.”