It's an area that has people far and wide in awe that such a lovely, leafy suburb can be so close to a city centre. The Park is one of the most prestigious areas of Nottingham, home to some of the most wealthy and successful people in the city.
The birds can be heard with traffic noise minimal, almost every home is listed and people gasp at them in amazement, and the quietness and calmness akin to that of a village in the middle of nowhere is only a five-to-10 minute walk from the hustle and bustle of Nottingham. The average price of a property in The Park is just over £440,000, according to Rightmove.
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But the 150-acre private residential estate is part of an area that is the second-worst in Nottinghamshire for anti-social behaviour, which has left local people amazed. The Park & Castle area had the second highest rate in the county at 76 crimes of anti-social behaviour per 1,000 residents for 2021/22, according to hyper-local police figures.
These incidents can include vandalism, verbal abuse, shouting, swearing, fighting, intimidation and harassment. The highest area for incidents of anti-social behaviour in Nottinghamshire was recorded in the City Centre and Trent Bridge neighbourhood, with a total of 1,438 incidents equating to 109 crimes for every 1,000 people.
That's the 22nd highest of nearly 7,000 neighbourhoods in England and Wales, and much higher than the national average of 21 incidents per 1,000 people. But local people in The Park & Castle area are stunned that area is just behind in second place in Nottinghamshire.
David Sanchez, 31, who lives in Sherwood, said: "I come to this part of Nottingham a lot, and whenever I do, I think it's quite a friendly area. I've never known of any problems.
"Even in the evenings, when I've been walking by myself around here, I've not seen anything, I feel safe. Last night, I was walking around to get some bubble tea in the city centre, and I walked through this area and it was fine."
Simran Matharu, 18, who lives in Mapperley, said: "My friend lives in The Park and I come to this area quite often, but I've never seen anything. It's a really nice area.
"I come here a lot. I wouldn't have thought the area would be that bad."
John Worker, 45, who works in the area, said: "The area is alright, I've never been around here at night but I've never seen anything happen. I feel safe in the city centre, it's a safe city.
"I'm from Leicester originally and I see it more there than here. With the figures, it happens in every area, you get things happen in places like West Bridgford or Beeston still."
Closely behind The Park & Castle area are Mansfield Town Centre and Broomhill, with 74 incidents per 1,000 residents. At the other end of the spectrum, Cropwell Bishop, Kinoulton and Upper Broughton in Rushcliffe is the safest neighbourhood in Nottinghamshire, with just five incidents for every 1,000 residents.
Across Nottinghamshire as a whole, there were a total of 31,546 incidents of anti-social behaviour recorded by police last year, which is a 35 percent drop from 48,654 during the year ending March 2021. However, much of that year was spent in lockdown due to the pandemic, which may have affected the figures.
In particular, police clamped down on groups gathering together due to Covid-19 restrictions, which may have been classed as 'anti-social'.
Inspector Paul Gummer, who leads Nottinghamshire Police's city centre neighbourhood policing team, said: "While this drop in antisocial behaviour figures is clearly good news, we are and will continue to tackle any such issues, listening to any of the concerns that are raised with us. Tackling antisocial behaviour remains a key priority for all neighbourhood teams.
"Specifically in the city centre, we have multiple teams including our Operation Compass and Operation Reacher teams who are dedicated to proactively tackling issues such as antisocial behaviour, including working closely with partners to try to break the cycle of offending. As part of this, our officers carry out regular high-visibility patrols to provide both a reassuring presence on the streets and also feet on the ground to respond quickly to any incidents as they happen.
"This all said, care should be taken interpreting antisocial behaviour figures, as it is quite common to get multiple calls about the same incident - therefore it is misleading to present the data as actual crimes as opposed to the number of reports received. Even more care should be taken in relation to city centres when considering the number of calls per 1,000 residents as antisocial behaviour calls are not just made by residents.
"They are also made by workers and visitors and there are many, many more of them in Nottingham city centre than residents on any given day. Finally, our aim is always to keep people in our communities safe, so we’d encourage anyone to approach our officers should they need our support or want to highlight an incident.
"People can report incidents of antisocial behaviour by calling Nottinghamshire Police on 101."
