‘Drinking den should be shut off at night’

Michael Tallon said the area is blighted by under-age drinkers and anti-social behaviour.

He also called for the alleyway running to Kilwilkie Gardens to be shut completely.

A proposal to close the area off has been submitted to the Department of Social Development.

“This place is a drinking den,” said Mr Tallon.

“This is a Neighbourhood Renewal Area, so there’s bound to be money to put up a set of gates on either end.

“The people living here are tortured by youngsters congregating here, and this would be an effective way of alleviating the problem.”

He added: “People here are entitled to live without worrying about this sort of behaviour.”

However, Sarah Wilson of Craigavon Community Safety Partnership, said it would be difficult to find someone to take responsibility for the daily opening and closing of the gates.

“If gates are erected, it’s very likely that they would be closed on a permanent basis,” said Ms Wilson.

However, Mr Tallon pointed out that closing the gates permanently would cause “unnecessary disruption” to Kilwilke residents.

Sinn Féin Councillor Noel McGeown, who is Vice-chair of the Community Safety Partnership, said: “The alleyways in these areas have been the focal point for anti-social behaviour for some time, and the proposed scheme involving the Housing Executive and Craigavon Community Safety Partnership would go a long way to resolving the problems.

“There has been on-going difficulty in this area for years now and hopefully this proposed alley-gating scheme will be funded by Neighbourhood Renewal and completed without any further delay.”

Cllr McGeown added: “The people in this area are entitled to live without aggravation and the community are justifiably angry that this problem has been going on for so long.”