Something more needs doen to end anti-social attacks - Councillor

Sinn Féin Councillor Gerard McCabe said he would be holding a meeting with statutory agencies to discuss anti-social behaviour after residents of Deerpark Gardens suffered as bottles, bricks and stones rained down on their homes and cars from Ballysillan Playing Fields.

The Sinn Féin Councillor said he urgently wants an update from Council officials who have put plans forward for approval to install a fence to help stop the attacks.
The situation facing the residents of the small cul-de-sac in Deerpark Parade is also being mirrored across the street in Deerpark Road, said McCabe.
“It is quite a large section of Deerpark that is being affected by this and residents tell me it’s been going on for years,” he said.

“I have contacted Belfast City Council and the PSNI about this and with interface worker Breandan Clarke, we did a walkabout of the area only last week. The PSNI were able to say they are familiar with the problems. But they say if they block the entrances to Ballysillan Playing Fields the kids still manage to get away. So something more permanent needs to be done.”

Meanwhile the Sinn Féin Councillor said he believed figures were much higher for anti-social behaviour in Ardoyne as it was impossible to record everything.
The Sinn Féin Councillor was responding after 110 incidents were clocked up by Belfast City Council's community safety wardens patrolling Ardoyne over a three-week period.
Every day during three weeks in May (10-31) on average five incidents took place, ranging from criminal damage, anti-social behaviour and vandalism in a small stretch of streets that measures only a third of a mile.

"The figures are only the tip of the iceberg because the wardens can't catch everything," he said. "And although it works out at five incidents a day, all the trouble and the nuisances most probably happen on the weekends, so the figures can be a bit misleading. This is where agencies such as the police, Housing Executive and Social Services need to step up their efforts."