Anger at Spriggs Road lane closure

FIANNA Fáil councillor Kenneth O’Flynn has lashed out at Cork City Council over the recent lane closure between Spriggs Road and Temple Acre Avenue.

In what he calls “a bizarre” and “grotesque bumble” by Cork City Council, Cllr O’Flynn has called on council officials to admit, “That what they have done with this laneway closure is not a solution to a problem but rather an escalation of anti-Social behaviour in the area.”

Speaking about the work carried out Cllr O’Flynn said, “I was flabbergasted with what I saw here when I called up after I was alerted to the problem by concerned residents.”

At present the laneway closure consists of two metal fences between Temple Acre Avenue and Spriggs Road. The purpose of the closure was to eliminate anti-social activity which was taking place in the laneway.

According to Cllr O’Flynn, it has had the opposite effect, “You just have to look around you to see that what has happened here is the creation of a VIP Lounge for street drinking, drug use and other forms of anti-social activity.

“This is now an enclosed area where anti-social behaviour has been allowed to thrive and prosper and all of this was facilitated by poor planning on the part of Cork City Council.

“The area has already seen what poor planning by the council can achieve, there are at present flats de-tenanted before funding was allocated for regeneration work. As this work did not happen these flats were subjected to the most horrific forms of vandalism such as fires and illegal dumping.”

Cllr O’Flynn has pointed out that two houses on Temple Acre Avenue have been boarded up and are not capable of use as a consequence of anti-social behaviour.