By Call for anti-motorcycle barriers at People’s Park rejected
A petition for anti-motorcycle gates to be installed at the entrances to People’s Park in Grimsby has been rejected.
Local residents had requested that motorcycle access be cut off following ongoing incidents of motorised noise and anti-social behaviour.
A statement released by the petition author, Daniel Westcott, suggested the barriers would “solve the constant problem of illegal motorcycle activity, that poses a serious threat to the public.”
It continued:
“Park Ward has served as a magnet for criminals on stolen mopeds and high-powered machines for some time now, often driven recklessly and at high speed, with total disregard for the public’s safety,
“The cutting between Legsby Avenue and Park Drive leads directly into People’s Park, an area where young and old alike should be able to visit and enjoy in relative safety, but this is not the case, mainly due to this menace.
“The cutting also serves nearby primary schools, secondary schools and nurseries, used by hundreds of children and parents each week.”
But North East Lincolnshire Council have declined to act on the petition after a report citing a local anti-social behaviour team threw the financial and practical feasibility of the scheme into question.
A report stated that as the park has multiple entrances and access points including hedges which could easily be breached, such a project would be very costly.
It also noted that the existing low-level fence is regularly vandalised to create new entry points.
There are fears that such incidents would increase if the main routes were to be gated.
Further, it stated that gates would also impede access for mobility scooters, wheelchairs and pushchairs:
“By installing gates we would be preventing the very people we like to see in the park – those with disabilities and young families enjoying the facilities.
“Feedback from our Anti-Social Behaviour team is that, even with the installation of barriers, somebody intent on riding a motorbike anti-socially in the park could relatively easily lift the machine over the current low-level fencing that surrounded the park.”
Current measures to tackle the ongoing issue of anti-social behaviour in People’s Park include CCTV and police patrols.
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