Pesky skateboarders!

[Foxglove]

Help! I live in a very quiet Close, in fact I'm the only house in the Close. It's a lovely quiet country lane. However, the road outside my house (which is very quiet) has been hijacked by a gang of skateboarders who set up ramps and spend hours and hours there. Not only is it noisy, but their language is none too pleasant either. the group is also grwoing as word gets around that this is a good place to be. They are also blocking the single track road with their ramps so that I can't get in or out easliy with my car, and neither can anyone else who needs to drive up to visit me. I have asked them politely to move on but they give me grief. Do they have a right to do this on a public road? What grounds do I have to ask them to go away? How best can I deal with this? Is this a police matter? All advice would be greatly appreciated.

[smudge]

You could get in touch with the police, but then they would probably tell you to contact the noise abatement department, of the local council. This is a very difficult situation to be in, because if you confront them again, it could turn nasty. You could write or e-mail your local MP, ours is brilliant, but then he is a true blue! Deep breath & good luck.

[rjcb23]

if you talk to the police and tell them that you think your property is at risk (especially as they will no doubt know when you are in or out of your house) then they might look into it a bit more. Its worth exaggerrating the nuisance and the possible risk to get the police to listen though.

[Greedyfly]

Ask them to move along if not report it and they will sort it out. Many towns dont actually have skating facilities and mnay people dont like skaters around where they live, so to me it would be easier to put a park in each town and it would save a lot of hassle

[Janetex]

This is so easy... These people are young, mostly male. What do young people, mostly males, want? They want acceptance, somewhere to muck around and food. You are smarter, so, here's your best plan - Wave and smile at them, feed them, chat evern. Then discuss an access, muck around routine. Print out some "quiet time" vouchers, some "right of way & "parking" vouchers. Make them your allies. You will be rewarded a hundredfold.

[smudge]

Ah, but who's going to pay for all the food to feed them with Janetex? Perhaps you'd like to send a donation to Foxglove!

[HGKinsey]

Get some fine grit onto the road as skateboards do not move well unless over a smooth surface. Put it down when the skaters aren't there and they MAY get tired of having to prepare the road by clearing it off each time they turn up to skate. Ask your local police if they can add your Close to their regular patrol. I'm sure they will take action against anyone who blocks the public highway which is what these skaters are doing with their ramps. It will also not look as if you have called them out (but isn't it sad that we have to pussy foot around teenagers!). Finally, don't take it personally: the skaters are not doing it to get at you; they have just found a nice place to skate and probably don't take much notice of you or your comings and goings.

[HGKinsey]

JANETEX - Just out of interest, are you either (a) a teenager? (b) a skateboarder? (c) a social worker? or (d) someone who just hasn't got to that time of life yet when anyone under the age of 25 annoys you greatly when gathered in groups of more than 4?

[Foxglove]

Thanks for all the help so far - I am not alone! I have just rung the police and they will send a Community Police officer during the week at the peak time of skateboarding (I am happy to keep this as low key as possible). Hmm, they also told me that this wouldn't be a problem in the winter!!!!!!! but I'm not going to start wishing for snow just yet. If anyone else has had this problem and has dealt with it please post a response.

[peanut]

be careful of the advice from janetex, if you start to feed these annoying pains in your ass you may find them on your front step crying for food in the middle of the night and knocking over your garbage cans.

[capriow]

Simply put, if you get nasty with them, they will win! you have everything to lose, and they know where you live. I had a similar problem with kids building treehouses in a vacant lot next to me, and peering down on my daughters. i went to the town hall every single morning until they were more annoyed with me, and then adressed the problem.