RESIDENTS are being asked about issues connected to young people drinking in public places.
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and other bodies such as West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group and the police set up a Community Alcohol Partnership [CAP] to look at underage drinking and ‘proxy sales’ – adults buying alcohol for under-18s.
Members of the CAP are paying visits to all licenced premises in the area to explain how they can help.
The survey is trying to find out what people think about youths ‘being drunk and rowdy’ and ‘hanging around outside of shops asking adults to buy alcohol for them’.
The questionnaire also asks about the perception of the police response to these issues, and what else there is for young people to do in the area apart from drinking.
Cllr Maria Heslop, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, told the Times: ‘The survey is being -undertaken in order to find out residents’ views about whether or not they think there is underage drinking taking place in Tonbridge – and, if so, where this is taking place.’
She added: ‘This doesn’t mean that there is a big problem with underage drinking in the town or with anti-social behaviour issues.
‘But there will almost certainly be some young people who do drink and who can be helped by the Partnership’s role in educating, enforcing – preventing shops from selling to underage people – and prevention.’
Visit www.tmcommunitysafety.org.uk and follow the link, or go to www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QNMF329
