Local Authorities put lots of money into the creation and maintenance of parks and gardens, as public space for the enjoyment of all, and to keep kids entertained. The latter might be achieved not by planting more flowers but by the creation of a diversity of play equipment, for toddlers up to young adults who might enjoy the thrills and spills of a skate park.

But for reasons that have never been properly understood, parks and gardens are also a magnet for those at the extremes of society, alcoholics, rough sleepers and IV drug users. And it is the IV drug users who create particular safety hazards by discarding their needles carelessly, placing legitimate users at risk of sharps injury.

Now, the small town of Bay Roberts in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, has shut its popular new skate park just two weeks after it opened, following the discovery of used needles at the site. The town is turning to surveillance cameras to tackle crime.

Solving this particularly common problem is complex and costly, and is never fixed in a single overnight intervention. It takes a complex and on-going multi-agency effort, and much money.