Myatt’s Fields local police team is inviting residents to meet them at their first Safer Neighbourhood Team panel of 2025.
The panel – at which the local team answer questions about local crime and safety issues – will take place at the Myatt’s Fields North community centre on February 12th at 7pm.
At the last meeting, new policing priorities were set by local people – they were:
Anti-social behaviour, including drug dealing, on the Myatt’s Fields North estate
Positive engagement with local young people
Violent crime, including robbery in the Ward.
Earlier this month the team reported that three suspects had been arrested and bailed following a robbery in Patmos Road on Christmas Eve.
The Myatt’s officers say they are working with the Met’s robbery team in the investigation, and intend to have Community Behaviour Orders imposed to ban the suspects from the area.
Councillors have promised to monitor closely a new pilot scheme which will see Myatt’s Fields Park open to the public 24/7.
Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop say they have heard from residents and park users worried about a possible overnight upsurge in anti-social behaviour. Others have welcomed the move because, they say, it will make the park more convenient and accessible.
For many years, the gates have been locked between dusk and 7.30am. Now the local authority has decided to — possibly temporarily — leave them open all the time.
The pilot began earlier this month and is scheduled to continue until next Summer (July 2025). The council points out that Myatt’s Fields is one of the very few open spaces in the borough to have been regularly locked overnight and that no uptick in anti-social behaviour has been experienced when other areas have been left open: recent pilots elsewhere in the borough had been “successful”, Lambeth claimed.
The council insists that cost-saving is not the main reason for the decision. In a statement — the text of which may be read here – Cllr Fred Cowell, Lambeth’s Co-Cabinet Member for Equalities, Governance and Change said three other parks in the borough had been allowed to remain open all the time in the first phase of the trial.
He said: “no increases in crime or ASB were recorded during the first phase. Following relatively positive reports from stakeholders and the police during the first phase I took the decision to move onto the second phase which involved Myatt’s Field as one of the parks in the scope of this trial.”
Cllr Cowell said that £140,000 was being spent each year locking parks but this was unlikely to represent a good use of public cash because it didn’t necessarily deter crime or vandalism.
He went on: “Crime and anti-social behaviour in parks [is] not deterred by the locking measure in isolation. It also can be counterproductive for access for policing or emergency vehicles which can actively be counterproductive to prevent crime and disorder. Furthermore, there are large parts of the year where the locking policy closed access to parks for many park users, [whose] only option for going for a run or walking their dog during the winter months is when the park has closed.”
An earlier study carried out alongside the Myatt’s Fields Park Project, which runs the open space on behalf of Lambeth, had agreed to leaving the facility permanently unlocked, he said.
“A few area-specific factors were looked [at] in relation to proceed[ing] with the unlocking of the park. These included the ongoing authorised evening use from the floodlit 3G pitch […]. This will act to some extent as a deterrent to anti-social behaviour specifically in the park.
“Current health and safety protocols require park workers to leave at least one set of gates unlocked if people refuse to leave the park at locking-up time, so there always has been access to the park through one entrance after dark. Before taking this decision, we had heard from park officers and the staff that help run Myatts Field that during the summer months it is common to leave the park unlocked.”
Cllr Cowell said the pilot is due for review in late July next year although he urged interested parties — including ward councillors and the park project — to report any concerns in the meantime.
Councillors Gallop and Gadsby said:
“We recognise that this change has worried a lot of people — not just in our ward, but also in the wider community of users. We will insist that the council closely monitor the pilot and, listening to residents and users, respond swiftly to any problems, bearing in mind that the park must be kept accessible for as many people as possible. We would encourage all residents to send any feedback on this issue, or raise any specific problems they see during the pilot’s operation, to parks@lambeth.gov.uk.”
Local residents will have an opportunity to raise any issues, opinions or concerns they have about community safety in Myatt’s Fields at a Safer Neighbourhood Team meeting in November.
The meeting, organised by the ward’s police team, is open to all residents and will review local anti-social behaviour, crime and community safety issues in our area.
April’s meeting will be held on Friday, 15 November, 7-830pm at Longfield Hall.
If you have any issues you would like raised with our police team, please contact your councillors here.
Local Myatt’s Fields councillors and Vauxhall’s MP Flo Eshalomi have called for a crackdown on a recent spate of anti-social behaviour around Myatt’s Fields Park.
Residents have been in contact with their local representatives following disturbances during the summer in which a small group of people harassing passers-by, allegedly causing criminal damage and intimidating residents. Local businesses have also complained that their livelihoods were being put at risk.
Cllr Paul Gadsby, Cllr Annie Gallop and local Vauxhall MP Flo Eshalomi, said in a joint statement:
“The recent reports from the streets around Myatt’s Fields Park are completely unacceptable Everyone has a right to feel safe and secure on our streets.
“In response to these reports, we have:
Received a commitment from local police that they will be stepping up patrols and carrying out other activity in the area aimed at protecting the community. The local police team say they have spoken to those involved and are using local CCTV to identify any unacceptable behaviour.
Raised our concerns with Lambeth’s top police officer – the Borough Commander – and pressed for this issue to be a priority.
Attended meetings with residents and the police to listen first-hand to the concerns of local people.
“We find it encouraging that this action appears to have resulted in a decline in anti-social behaviour during the latter part of August, but we will continue to press for local residents to be protected from any criminal activity.”
The local representatives urged residents to report any criminal behaviour to the police via 999 or 101: the neighbourhood police team can also be contacted here.
Local residents in Myatt’s Fields will have their opportunity to quiz their area’s local police team at this month’s Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting.
The gathering is held regularly by local police officers to update the community on the most recent community safety issues in the area: it also provides a platform for residents to be able to put their questions and views to the frontline police team. The meeting is open to all local residents.
Details of the meeting for this month are:
Location: CHURCH MANOR ESTATE OFFICE, (Training Room) VASSALL ROAD, SW9
Local residents will have an opportunity to raise any issues, opinions or concerns they have about community safety in Myatt’s Fields at a Safer Neighbourhood Team meeting in April.
The meeting, organised by the ward’s police team, is open to all residents and will review local anti-social behaviour, crime and community safety issues in our area.
April’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, 26 April, 7-8pm at the Myatt’s North Community Centre.
If you are unable to make the meeting and have a local community safety issue to raise, please feel free to contact your local councillors here.
Myatt's Fields Labour 