THE chair of the Friends of Hermitage Park has vowed that the group will not be beaten by incidents of anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

Fiona Baker made the pledge after louts tore down a safety fence in the park twice in the same day this week.

The incidents came after councillors in Helensburgh were told the fight against vandalism and graffiti in the park was becoming a “daily battle”.

But Ms Baker said both the Friends and Argyll and Bute Council had plans to take positive steps to tackle the problem.

A post on the Hermitage Park Facebook page on Monday night pleaded with parents to keep a close eye on young children in the park after vandals twice broke down a safety fence separating the children’s play area from a work site occupied by contractor Hawthorn Heights.

READ MORE: Vandals break down Hermitage Park safety fence – twice in one day

The Advertiser also understands that a bench in the park was covered in graffiti on Sunday – shortly after police warned a group of young people about their behaviour in the park.

However, Ms Baker told the Advertiser that there were already plans to take positive steps to combat anti-social behaviour – and she vowed that the Friends would not be stopped from completing their work on the park’s £3.3 million regeneration.

She said: “We will carry on. I don’t want to keep being negative, because there is so much going on that is positive. I’m not a quitter, and we will see it through.

“We’ve been put in touch with Y Sort It, a community group in Clydebank – the gentleman who runs that was a bit of a bad kid when he was younger, and that’s the kind of intervention that works, because it connects with young people today.

“Later this week we are meeting with Streetworks, a group which creates organised graffiti art in Glasgow.

“We want young people to talk to us about what they want. We have to be so careful that whatever we do is not counter-productive.

READ MORE: Young people 'hold the key' to future of Hermitage Park

“We know it’s just a small minority. Most young people are perfectly friendly, helpful and polite.

“We’re always trying to be positive but of course there are days when you ask yourself ‘why?’.

“The answer is that we have simply set out to restore Helensburgh’s park and make it a nice place again for everyone. I’m not going to let them grind us down.

“We will continue because we believe in what we’re doing. We’ve made huge progress so far, and when it’s all finished we hope everyone will be happy.”

The park’s latest troubles follow a series of incidents over the last year in which buildings have been damaged, trees uprooted and stolen, bins smashed and new fencing ripped out of the ground.

READ MORE: Rise in reports of disorder at Hermitage Park

Helensburgh resident Neil Waldron raised the issue of obscene graffiti at the park during a ‘public questions’ session at a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on June 20.

Mr Waldron said: “Vandalism and graffiti has got much worse recently – and particularly very recently, in the last two or three days. I thank the park’s staff, who have been out with anti-graffiti spray, but it’s a daily battle. Every day it’s getting worse.”

“It appears to be the work of a very small number of individuals – possibly even two people.”

Committee chair Ellen Morton said councillors, and the general public, would be “sympathetic” to Mr Waldron’s concerns, but he replied: “I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m looking for action.”

Cllr Morton added: “This must not be about labelling our young people as a problem.

“It’s a very small number of young people who are behind behaviour like this, and despite all our efforts we don’t seem to be able to find a solution.”

READ MORE: 'Don't let the bad beat the good' – plea to Hermitage Park's volunteers

Depute council leader Gary Mulvaney said of the vandals: “The root of the problem isn’t young people per se, it’s finding the young people who are doing this. “They are criminals and they need to be brought to book.

“Failing to deal with the root cause means you can remove the graffiti one day and it presents a challenge to the people responsible to put more up that night.

“It will be a battle of wills between these criminal individuals and the police and the community as to how we solve the problem.”

Helensburgh police inspector Roddy MacNeill told the Advertiser: “We are providing as much attention to the park as possible. Vandalisms include various tags and names from various areas and I am currently working through a social media list to try and identify youths frequenting the park.

“Officers will continue to police the park and will be in plain clothes on occasion. Numerous youths have been spoken to in the park.”

READ MORE: Vandals cause £15,000 of damage at Hermitage Park pavilion

Contractors Hawthorn Heights are currently carrying out around 12 weeks of landscaping and car park construction work after the park’s Passivhaus pavilion was handed over to the council in late May – eight months later than planned.

The work, which is due to be completed by the end of August, also includes construction of a car park, connection of utilities and the installation of a Tarmac surface on the entrance road.

The Friends added: “We hope by the end of August all building work will be finished and the pavilion cafe, toilets and community room can open.”