Not politically correct, Parish Council.
Well! Apparently we have had four drug addicts moved into the village, next door to the florists. The florists that was burgled shortly thereafter.
There is also someone in the village who was reported to the police as dealing drugs, four years ago. He still is.
A woman with alcohol issues has also been moved in; apparently she's drunk all the time and the kids are running wild.
Also a car comes into the village some nights, parks up with his headlights on where local youths sometimes assemble and stays there for about three hours. He too is dealing drugs.
Then there are a couple of mobile gangs in cars who are going around burglarising and assaulting people.
The Parish councillors at the meeting (who give up their time and don't get paid) were frustrated, some angry. Complaints are that the police don't do enough.
My view is that the problem is there are so many people committing crime it is hard to keep on top of. I wouldn't like to give the impression that this village is a hell hole, it is not. I have lived here forty years going on and never seen much trouble in all that time. But there is a lot more going on than I realised.
I said my piece, which was basically that this village is not getting a fair deal. We pay literally millions every year in council tax and are made to feel grateful if the road gets mended. Meanwhile some of the people recently relocated to this village are just low lives. They aren't locals, goodness knows where they are from. So as I say IMO we're getting the rough end of the pineapple.
At the meeting was a district councillor (who does get paid). I don't think that I am her favourite person for what I said. They get loads of money, we get smackheads - not fair. She got a bit short when I mentioned houses of multiple occupancy. these are when a premises is converted into flats / bedsits and then filled up with "vulnerable people". She was very sharp, denying that there are any. Though there are.
The suspicion is that when Covid hit Wakefield housed a lot of people with problems in hotels in the city centre. Crime there, burglary and shoplifting especially, has rocketed and business owners are complaining. So imo the council is getting them out of hotels (average cost £75 a night) and relocated in the surrounding villages. I think I'll ask the district councillor this should I attend the next meeting. I'll definitely be off the Christmas card list then!