Alley-gates welcomed but not a solution

SDLP Lurgan representative Ciaran Toman has welcomed that Cafolla Gardens are the latest street to benefit from a scheme to erect alley-gates.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Feb 2020, 16:23 BST

The extension of the scheme follows the success of the installation of alley-gates at Silverwood Drive and Elmwood Terrace last year.

“Despite the efforts of the Housing Executive and the PSNI neighbourhood policing teams, the gathering of youths in the area are just moved from one place and becomes a problem for another,” said Mr Toman. “While I welcome this latest development, as Cafolla Gardens are one of the few streets in Shankill left with no alley-gates, it does not resolve the major problem that we have in the area.

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“What is required is a multi-agency approach to the changing of the attitudes and culture of that small number of young people engaged in nuisance or criminal behaviour.

“This problem will simply move along and reappear elsewhere and we end up with a continuous cycle of complaints and make-do solutions.”