Cardiff Bay: New approach to antisocial behaviour from weekend

A new approach to antisocial behaviour at Cardiff Bay will be implemented by police from the weekend.

Since lockdown has eased, hundreds of young people have been gathering and drinking alcohol in large groups there.

Ch Supt Wendy Gunny from South Wales Police said people would see a more visible police presence from the weekend.

Young people meeting there told the BBC they cleaned up their litter and that a minority were behind the problems.

Speaking to Claire Summers on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Ch Supt Gunny said: "We need to take a different approach with Cardiff Bay to make it a more controlled environment so everyone can enjoy it safely."

"There will be more structured commands over that police presence so we can move around the city and towards disturbances if and when we need to."

She said marshals would be meeting and greeting visitors, barriers would be erected and there would be more bins.

She added: "It has been particularly challenging since we've seen lockdown eased with the pop up of this disorder across the city and across south Wales really...

"It is completely disappointing and we had hoped that people would be responsible and behave themselves.

"Recent events have shown that a small minority spoil this for others."

Wales' chief medical officer Frank Atherton said: "I don't think we should try to demonise a particular group in society, I think there is something for all of us.

"We need to think about young people and the way that they have had a very difficult summer, many of their kind of pleasures and enjoyments have been taken away and we can understand this sort of behaviour."

But he added: "We have to get the message through that this does put all of us at risk, it risks us having to go back to the stage where we have to close things down rather than as we are now opening things up.

"There is something about young people behaving responsibly so they protect their relatives, their older relatives, in particular grandparents... that message needs to get through, but it's really for all of us to take those messages on board."

Lily Schofield, a medical student at Cardiff University, has been called up to work on an acute stroke ward in Bridgend which has meant she cannot see her family as her mother is shielding.

She told Dot Davies on BBC Radio Wales the images from Cardiff Bay were upsetting but said it was "dangerous to make generalisations about how young people are acting at the moment".

She said: "We don't hear about people who are at home abiding by the rules.

"I've got lots of friends who have been putting themselves at risk being part of the temporary workforce - friends working in hospitals, actors being hospital cleaners, working for charities, people being supermarket staff and delivery drivers… now more than ever it's important to celebrate those young people and thank them for what they've done."

The BBC spoke to a number of small groups enjoying a quiet drink in the sun at Cardiff Bay's Roald Dahl Plass on Monday.

Rhys Mallard and Lewis Tebbut, both 21, said most people gathered for a quiet few drinks with friends and cleaned up after themselves.

"I've seen problems with drinking and fighting, people don't clean up their rubbish and it ruins it for everyone else," said Lewis.

"Coming down here with mates is one thing, but inviting everyone you know and people bringing massive speakers is another."

Rhys and Lewis said numbers could grow very quickly on weekends, especially when the weather is nice and people are attracted to the area when they see friends posting on social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.

"Before you know it, you've got 200 to 400 people down here," Rhys explained.

Lowri, Alisha, Tyler, Elli and Morgan say they like to meet down Cardiff Bay and have a few quiet drinks when the weather is nice.

They say they would only stay until about 22:00 and would take all their rubbish away with them.

"Rubbish is the problem," said Lowri.

"They could have had a good night without leaving rubbish. They get too drunk and then leave it there."

Cardiff Council said it had removed 28 tonnes of waste at a cost of £4,000.

Claire Simms and Simon Graham live in Penarth but regularly walk across the barrage to enjoy the "ambience" of Cardiff Bay.

"I can understand all these kids and their frustration, but we have all got the same frustration," said Claire.

"Families with young children can't enjoy it. It's a nice ambience normally. It's nice to come here and relax, people watch and that."

Last weekend, a 48-hour dispersal order was put in place near the Wales Millennium Centre to deal with problems.

"It is a really concerning situation," International Relations Minister Elunned Morgan said at a Welsh Government press conference on Tuesday.

"It is something where I think we do have to get messages out, in particular to younger people, that this does affect them, it will affect them.

"Clearly the evidence suggests that the younger people are really perhaps in some parts of the country not taking this as seriously as some of the other age groups.

"That is a message that we need to get out but the police are very well aware of the situation in Cardiff Bay, and will be enforcing measures to make sure that people comply with the rules."