Cllr Mickey Cooper
SINN Féin Councillor Mickey Cooper has welcomed a meeting he facilitated between residents of the Lower Strand Road and the PSNI to come up with workable solutions to tackle problems affecting residents and motorists in the Lower Strand Road at night time.
It follows incidents of ‘boy racers’ using Strand Road a late night race track.
Councillor Cooper said: “Residents have been in contact with me for some time now asking for something to be done to come up with workable solutions.
“One request in particular was that they could meet the police to outline directly their concerns.
“The Strand Road has been used at night-time to race cars at dangerous speeds with the obvious risks this poses to pedestrians, drivers and passengers.
“The high levels of noise generated by these vehicles is also having a detrimental effect on residents at a time when they are trying to sleep or relax.
“The PSNI officers who attended agreed that the concerns of residents would be taken on board and that there would be follow up meetings and engagements to ensure that the issue was regularly reviewed.
“This is particularly important given that the nature of the problem has changed from being a weekend only occurrence to something that is now taking place throughout the week.
“It also involves both death drivers in cheap runabouts but also vehicles which are clearly well maintained by long term owners.
“In these instances it is vital that the police are aware of the cars registration details so the owners who are causing disruption can be identified.
“Equally, by engaging residents the police should now be aware of the pattern of behaviour of those causing the disruption to allow them to organise their patrols and other activities to maximum effect.
“Whilst cars are viewed as a past-time and a means of recreation their use in this area cannot be at the expense of resident’s quality of life and safety and I am appealing to these drivers to respect the Strand Road neighbourhood and to refrain from these activities.”
