City divided by residents' crime fears

THE extent of the divide between how safe people feel in their neighbourhoods across the Capital has been exposed by a major residents' survey.

Almost half the population are dissatisfied with the way problems such as antisocial behaviour, vandalism and graffiti are dealt with in their part of the city.

In Leith, the area where there was the most concern, almost a third of people said they did not feel safe going out after the hours of darkness.

In stark contrast, there was almost universal approval for the way community safety issues are being handled in other neighbourhoods.

More than nine out of ten people were happy going out locally after dark in some of the communities.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, residents felt safest in the affluent Almond area, which includes Cramond, South Queensferry and Kirkliston, closely followed by the city centre, where policing is at its most visible.

Other areas, including Liberton and Gilmerton, returned high approval ratings for the way crime and antisocial behaviour is tackled.

There were significant increases in satisfaction levels across the entire city for the way the city authorities, primarily the police and city council, are dealing with problems.

Satisfaction with tackling house-breaking, for instance, rose across the city by a remarkable 42 per cent in the wake of a co-ordinated crackdown.

But the levels of concern expressed in some neighbourhoods, most notably Leith, remain high.

The figures came from the council's annual neighbourhood survey, which spoke to more than 5,000 residents from across the Capital.

Police believe that the fear of crime is greater than the reality in Leith, although they were unable to say why the problem might be worse in the port area than elsewhere.

A comparison of crime statistics, adjusted per head of population, does lend some credence to this theory.

It appears residents are around twice as likely to have their house broken into or be mugged in Leith compared to the city average. Approximately 1 in 100 Leith residents have suffered a house break-in in the last year.

Yet the same is true of Craigmillar, for instance, but there is much less concern among residents than there is in Leith.

One suggestion is that this could be down to the high level of newcomers into Leith, who generally have higher expectations about social problems being tackled than many long-standing residents. Leith councillor Gordon Munro said: "Leith is such a busy and vibrant area and it needs dedicated resources in the area to actually address the needs and demands."

He believes that heavy drinking and the easy availability of booze is the area's biggest social problem and called for a joint plan of action between the police, council and the health service. But he added: "If you go to The Shore in Leith, I think it is better and safer than places like George Street on a Saturday night."

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman commented: "The annual neighbourhood survey demonstrates that over the past three years, public satisfaction in terms of community safety has improved in the vast majority of areas that residents were questioned on.

"However, we are conscious that residents may perceive that there is a higher level of crime in the area than is perhaps the case."

'I've been slashed and all sorts of things when I've been out in pubs'

GREAT Junction Street is a hustle and bustle of people – men and women, young and old going about their daily business.

One of them is 39-year-old Scott Blackley. A father-of-two, he has lived in Leith all his life and says he had been a victim of crime in the area.

He explains: "There's no employment and the place is full of junkies. Locals don't call this Great Junction Street, they call it Great Junkie Street. I have been a victim of crime in Leith. I have been slashed and all sorts of things when I've been out in pubs.

"Unemployment and drugs are the biggest problems in the area, and there's not enough police. There's not enough jobs so most of the junkies go out stealing every day to fund their habits."

Such crimes may be why the council's annual neighbourhood survey showed residents in Leith felt more unsafe than residents in other areas of the Capital.

Mr Blackley adds: "I feel safe but I can imagine the OAPs collecting their money from the post office might feel a bit unsure."

Mr Blackley's feelings on his area conflict with those of Jean Davies, 35, who moved to Admiralty Street from Glasgow in 2002. "I don't feel unsafe or any less safe than I do in any other parts of Edinburgh," she says. "I'm a bit surprised by the survey – I'm not sure why people would think that."

However, some residents pointed out that there had been an increase in the number of beggars sitting near cash machines in the area, inevitably making some elderly residents feel uneasy.

They also pointed to the rich and poor divide as a possible factor in the large number of break-ins in the Leith area.

According to hairdresser Dionne MacDonald, 29, the survey findings are largely a result of peoples' perceptions of the area, rather than the reality.

The mother-of-two, who lives on Hamilton Wynd, says: "I feel quite safe but when I say to people from different areas that I stay in Leith, they say 'that's a Leither – you need to stay away from her'. I think the perception goes back years when Leith was the worst area in Edinburgh. I don't think it's the worst now. There are a lot worse areas in Edinburgh than Leith."

Retired security guard John Bell, 65, who has lived in Leith for 53 years, agrees.

He says: "I have always felt safe in Leith but it has always had a bad reputation, (but] you get nutters and druggies anywhere."

'I've never had any bother at all in all the time that I've been here'

IT'S approaching lunchtime and the shops on Walter Scott Avenue in The Inch are a sea of activity, with school kids buying chip butties for lunch, elderly residents collecting pensions from the post office, and parents doing a spot of grocery shopping.

There's an obvious absence of litter and graffiti outside the line of shops, which includes the Inch Pharmacy, Scotmid and Sun Factor beauty salon, and many of the locals exchange smiles and say hello as they pass one another, with some even stopping for a friendly chat.

Perhaps then, it should come as no surprise that residents in the Gilmerton and Liberton areas are among the most satisfied in the Capital in terms of a number of community safety issues, including the way in which violent crime and vandalism are dealt with, according to the council's neighbourhood survey.

Few people know the area better than 86-year-old Magdalene Quinn, who has lived in The Inch for almost six decades.

The great-grandmother said apart from a bogus caller incident around six years ago, in which her late husband George unwittingly let two cons into the house who subsequently stole a significant sum of cash, she hasn't had any problems living in the area.

Mrs Quinn, a retired cleaner who has lived in The Inch for 57 years, says: "I feel safe enough, I've never had any bother at all in all the time I've been here. I wouldn't move from here.

"There used to be crowds of youths hanging around outside these shops but there's not been any bother for a long time now."

Although Leonard Drummond, 56, has only lived in The Inch for three years, he agrees with Mrs Quinn.

"I feel safe and I have no worries about living here," says Mr Drummond, who was born and brought up in Gilmerton.

Many residents believe the shooting of 26-year-old Martyn Barclay on nearby Hazelwood Grove last year was a "one-off" incident, and say it hasn't discouraged them from living in the area.

There was also another shooting at the Marmion pub in nearby Gracemount in April 2006.

But Mr Drummond, a father-of-two, adds: "The only serious bother I've heard about in the area was the shooting last year, but it was a one-off incident.

" It's never really affected me in any way and it doesn't make me worry about going out at night. The majority of people have stayed here for a long time, so the residents know the shooting was a one-off."

Lauren Alexander, 19, who works in The Friery chip shop on Walter Scott Avenue, has lived in The Inch all her life and says it's a close-knit community.

"Everybody knows everybody here," she says. "Things like the shooting don't happen very often."