A York councillor has warned that a spate of arson attacks in one area of York could lead to “absolute catastrophe”.
Cllr Jonny Crawshaw was speaking after a series of incidents in his Micklegate ward, particulary around the Scarcroft Road area.
He said there’s been “a quite significant rise in the frequency and severity of anti social behaviour” with “a spate of arson attacks, which are particularly concerning the local community”.
He calculates that 13 sheds on allotments in the area have now been burnt down.
The three Labour ward councillors hosted a public meeting about the problems last week. Cllr Crawshaw told a council meeting on Thursday: “We know that there are sometimes rough sleepers using the sheds.
“We believe strongly that these are young people that are setting these fires and the ingredients are there for an absolute catastrophe to happen that will ruin a whole number of lives.”
Last month North Yorkshire Police said they were increasing patrols around Scarcroft Road Allotments and Hospital Fields Allotments due to the spate of crimes.
They urged parents to be vigilant about where their children were going.
Cllr Crawshaw asked Cllr Michael Pavlovic about concerns from residents over “communication between the various different agencies that are involved, whether that’s police fire, the council’s own community safety, schools, youth services and the wider community”.
Cllr Pavlovic said: “Your concern about the spate of fires and arsons, significant in your ward, but happening across the city, is something that’s a great deal of worry for all council departments, as well as the police, as well as the Deputy Mayor for police and fire.”
He said: “We strongly suspect that it’s predominantly young people that are engaged in this behaviour. The information through flow and sharing is not where it should be.”
But work was underway through the Safer York Partnership to improve that communication.
“We need to be disseminating information helping us to identify those individuals that may be involved with this level of offending.”
On the risk to rough sleepers, Cllr Pavlovic said: “Those far-reaching consequences of setting fires may go far beyond thrill seeking and lead to tragedies.
“I do have real concerns that rough sleepers who are using those sheds may not be aware of the problem.”
He said the council’s navigators, who support rough sleepers into safer spaces, will be advising them of the dangers.
And he said the council have added “an additional 27 spaces for rough sleepers, and that’s all rough sleepers, not just those with a local connection, to be able to access safe, warm accommodation overnight”.
