PICTURES: Scentral Park in Dingwall sees dogs and their owners benefit from community payback order
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Communities across Scotland have benefitted from more than a million hours of work carried out by people completing community sentences.
Work was carried out across the Highlands transforming various locations including a dog park in Dingwall.
And people sentenced to community payback orders (CPOs) have been able to make amends for the harm which resulted from their actions.
The annual CPO report for 2019-20 produced by public prevention agency Community Justice Scotland today (NOTE: published Monday 15 March 2021) highlighted 1,028,000 hours of unpaid work was carried out across the country. The labour hours amount to the equivalent of £9.5m to local communities.
In the Highlands one of the projects to benefit was Scentral Park in Dingwall where locals wanted an area to exercise their dogs.
Diane MacRae, a community payback officer who manages the unpaid work operation in Ross-shire, said: “Criminal justice social work have delivered a number of projects across Highland where people have carried out work as part of a community payback order with an unpaid work requirement as part of a community sentence that have helped transform various locations, including Scentral Park in Dingwall.
“The work has really benefitted local communities but has also helped the individuals give something back and in some cases learn new skills.
“Scentral Park was a waste area which was taken over by a group of volunteers wishing to exercise dogs with social issues in a controlled environment. The unpaid work scheme tidied up the entrance area and removed rubbish and weeds, clearing a significant area of ground to enable activities to be built for the dogs. This included building eight raised beds and using 40 tonnes of material.
“Individuals on community payback supervised by the local authority constructed dog activities which included two tunnels, several walkways and a tyre pyramid. They placed six tonnes of soil into the tyres for the pyramid and constructed two high benches and covered the existing paths with quarry dust and made them wheelchair accessible and to reduce mud collected by dogs. They also repaired and built picnic tables, built three holders for dog drinking bowls and reseeded the area.
“Over 700 hours of manpower was used on this project and it was all done by hand without any machinery involved. As well as an extensive makeover of an area of wasteland this project significantly improved the local area and it has been well used and facilitated community interaction.”
Unpaid work takes place all around Scotland. It allows people to repay their debt to society and build better lives for themselves, their families and communities – all of which contributes to fewer victims of crime.
A sheriff can order individuals to carry out a maximum of 300 hours of unpaid work. It’s the most common requirement of a CPO but orders can also instruct a person to address problems which contribute to their offending such as addiction and mental health needs.
Unpaid work has continued during the pandemic in different ways as adjustments have had to be made to keep people and communities safe.
Keith Gardner, Head of Analysis and Improvement at Community Justice Scotland, said: “Community payback orders, which include unpaid work, take place in communities across Scotland. They allow people to repay the harm caused and address any underlying issues which led to them offending such as mental health, drug and alcohol problems.
“They keep people in the community, in jobs and connected to family and support networks in a way that is safe and managed.
“The evidence shows that sentences served in the community are more effective than a short prison term in reducing reoffending. This means fewer victims of crime and a safe Scotland for us all."
