Update – dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour at Spytty

17th January, 2020

Over the last week I’ve been in contact with the Police, Tesco, Newport and Monmouthshire councils regarding the problem of anti-social behaviour, car meets and dangerous driving at Spytty Retail Park and Glan Llyn.

I wanted to provide you with a summary of the key updates at this stage:

The Police have run a series of enforcement operations in the area and have prosecuted a large number of individuals for speeding/driving offences, with a significant number of vehicles seized under Section 59.
The Police are liaising with local authorities in the West Midlands – who have an injunction in place regarding car cruising meets– and are gathering evidence to support a Gwent-wide injunction.
The Police are pushing for additional traffic management/controls along the SDR, as well as in Tesco and in other car parks to limit access.
Tesco have already added an ANPR camera that limits out-of-hours car park use – after this period a fine is sent to the home address of the registration owner. Signage will be in place shortly on site to highlight this, and information will be handed out to those meeting in the car park to explain this. Tesco are also exploring the possibility of additional ‘target hardening’ (fencing or moving barriers to the first point of entry).
Newport City Council have agreed for the SDR to have hard stands for speed camera vans, as the road previously did not qualify for them. They are also exploring the same option for the main road to Glan Llyn and Magor.
The Police are engaging with the individuals involved in the meets via the Fire Service’s Cruise Cymru scheme, which organises controlled events in areas that do not impact on neighbouring communities.
The Police are promoting the use of Op Snap for members of the public to upload footage of offending vehicles to support post-event prosecution https://gosafe.org/faq/operation-snap/.

I’m continuing to keep in touch with the Police, Tesco and the local authority, and hope to attend a stakeholder meeting soon. I will keep on raising residents’ concerns and pushing for action.