Millbrook Floral Troughs Vandalised, ‘Utterly Senseless’ Says MP

Published on: 26 Sep, 2022
Updated on: 29 Sep, 2022

The floral troughs tipped out onto the busy road at Millbrook.

By Martin Giles

Guildford’s MP Angela Richardson has reacted angrily to an act of vandalism in Guildford town centre.

Floral troughs, mounted on railings in front of the Debenhams building, were forcefully rotated so that their contents spilled onto the road. It is believed the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning (September 25).

Ms Richardson said: “The people of Guildford will be as disgusted as I am about this utterly senseless vandalism. It goes against the very essence of what it means to be a Guildfordian.

Angela Richardson MP

“A huge amount of care and work has been wasted and the pleasant approach into the south of the town ruined for thousands of shoppers, workers and visitors.

“While those responsible may see their actions as faintly amusing, they are merely proof of the existence of people among us who unfortunately enjoy spoiling even the simplest of pleasures for everyone else.

“I hope they will be caught and subjected to the consequences of their actions.”

The resident who took the featured image, who did not wish to be named, said: “What kind of people do this? I know as a gardener how much work must go into these floral displays which make the town more attractive for everyone. What utter morons. I do hope they are caught and punished.”

Cllr John Redpath

Ward councillor John Redpath (R4GV, Holy Trinity) added: “With the council’s budgets stretched to the limits we are fortunate to be able to still afford floral displays around the town into which our staff put a huge amount of work.

“Most of the flowers are grown in the council’s glass houses on Stoke Park and are something that the staff take great pride in, so it must be particularly upsetting for them to see their hard work destroyed.

“We have been told countless times by the current government that we will be seeing an increase in the number of police officers yet I have seen little evidence of this.

“We have CCTV in the town that nowadays is usually unmanned due to cuts at Surrey Police and so there is little chance of catching these mindless vandals.”

Responses to Millbrook Floral Troughs Vandalised, ‘Utterly Senseless’ Says MP

Georgina Grant Reply

September 26, 2022 at 5:10 pm

I saw this vandalism on Sunday morning and was so sad to see such a mindless act.

We are indeed fortunate to have such beautiful floral displays around Guildford. I hope the perpetrators are caught, hopefully there was CCTV nearby.

I think many, many hours of community service would be an appropriate punishment.
M Durant Reply

September 27, 2022 at 1:28 am

An awful act of vandalism but not as bad as children throwing stones from a roof in Horsham and hitting a baby.

There are gangs of children and young people committing crimes in Guildford and other areas all the time. They should be separated from their gangs and sent to a completely different area to be retrained on their own, tag them, remove their phones, their tablets and make their life difficult. They need to be kept busy and moved away from their environment, sadly community service is not enough, they are not afraid of committing vandalism or crimes with their friends, they know the penalty is minimal so they don’t care.

We need more cameras in Guildford as well and a more coordinated approach nationwide to deal with them.
Jan Messinger Reply

September 27, 2022 at 8:48 pm

Just awful to see this after the beautiful display of flowers has been enjoyed by so many.

Surely these acts of vandalism must have been caught on camera in the town centre along this busy stretch of road.
Wayne Smith Reply

September 28, 2022 at 1:31 pm

The last comment by Cllr Redpath deserves some scrutiny.

“We have CCTV in the town that nowadays is usually unmanned due to cuts at Surrey Police and so there is little chance of catching these mindless vandals.”

Unmanned CCTV? What does the Police and Crime Commissioner have to say about that?

There is something of a wave of petty vandalism taking place across Guildford that needs nipping in the bud: a bird hide at the Riverside Nature Reserve destroyed, fences damaged at Stoke Park kiosk and fence damaged at the Hideaway Cafe. There soon won’t be a piece of street furniture around Burpham and Merrow that doesn’t have graffiti on it (same coloured paint and ‘tags’).
- Ben Paton Reply
  
  September 28, 2022 at 8:13 pm
  
  The commentary about CCTV sounds irrational.
  
  CCTV does not need to be ‘manned’. It only needs to record the evidence for replay later.
  
  Is GBC saying that its CCTV cameras do not record and store the data at all?
David Roberts Reply

October 1, 2022 at 7:20 pm

Let’s get this in proportion. This minor, if unpleasant, bit of vandalism is nothing compared to the wholesale destruction of nature that Guildford Borough Council is conducting under the hated 2019 Local Plan. Whole swathes of the countryside are disappearing across the borough but attract no comment from MPs or councillors.