Luan Gallery's gates to block out the public

Ceirseach

Anyone think that the gates the council have erected at the back of the Luan Gallery are a step too far? Athlone Town Council has erected gates under the arch of the town bridge and at the other end of the gallery which means there will be no public right of way when the gates are locked. :mad:

BoB_BoT

If they're unlocked at day, what's the issue? There used to be nothing but cans and broken bottles left down around the arch area, before the work was carried out around the area and it was blocked off. I'm guessing it's back or it's being vandalised at night if they feel the need to put gates up.

ifeelill

Agreed ^^ . That bridge has been the scene of a murder a few years back. Personally anything that stops scumbags destroying the good work that has been done to make the town a more attractive place to live (and lets face it this place needs it)

I see that the previous residences of St Mel's still hang around in field that their houses inhabited, drinking and burning their rubbish rather than buy a bin tag.

So try and help your town by taking you're lazy arse the longway round

Ceirseach

Thanks for your comments BoB_BoT and ifeelill.

Re the anti-social behaviour in that area: there are 3 or 4 security cameras on the Luan Gallery overlooking the walkway and 2 Garda CCTV cameras monitoring that area. Would it not be a good use of resources to use those security measures to deal with any dodgy behaviour? This would allow ATC to use the property tax money for other more worthy projects.

Re the murder of the man, in 2003, a bit of a delay there for the council to react with these safety measures.

IMO the Luan Gallery want to have an enclosed area on the riverbank for outdoor soirees with other people excluded. ATC are facilitating this.

iPhone.

Why should the actions of the few discommode the many? If they have closed it because of the actions of a few drunks etc it's a poor reflection on the ATC.

They should be looking at a way of dealing with those that are mistreating the area and not punishing those that aren't. Seems a lazy way to deal with it TBH, or if the suggestion of a previous poster is true about it being done to suit a particular business that's an even poorer and more worrying reflection on ATC.

Does anyone have clarification from the council as to their reasons for definite?

triskell

There's quite a bit resentment over the gates with locals, it appears nobody knows who authorized the installation, it is being brought up at UDC meeting next week, those locked gates actually make it harder to access the gallery, given that you have those busy main road from parking area, and as has been said already why have they only just now become security conscious of the archway, is that not a public walkway along the bank of the river

Zubeneschamali

triskell wrote: »

is that not a public walkway along the bank of the river

Yes, I am quite sure it is a right of way, and erecting locked gates requires legally extinguishing the right of way (which is more-or-less impossible if anyone objects.)

athlonelad

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Yes, I am quite sure it is a right of way, and erecting locked gates requires legally extinguishing the right of way (which is more-or-less impossible if anyone objects.)

If anyone else in the town tried build anything without following the proper planning procedures im sure Athlone Town Council would be up in arms. They should be leading by example. If they want to put a gate there thats fine but give the public notice so they can voice opinion and or object just like you or I would be expected to do

Ceirseach

Great news! Athlone Town Council agreed to take the gates down at their monthly meeting this evening. 3 councillors put motions forward objecting to them: Aengus O'Rourke, Gabrielle McFadden and Paul Hogan. Cross party support for a change and democracy renewed.

triskell

great thanks for the update

Zubeneschamali

Ceirseach wrote: »

Great news! Athlone Town Council agreed to take the gates down at their monthly meeting this evening. 3 councillors put motions forward objecting to them: Aengus O'Rourke, Gabrielle McFadden and Paul Hogan. Cross party support for a change and democracy renewed.

Well, I'm sure the fact that the gates were illegal had something to do with it...

iPhone.

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Well, I'm sure the fact that the gates were illegal had something to do with it...

.....and of course everyone will be expected to overlook the public money that was wasted paying for the installation and to not bother with finding out who exactly is responsible and holding them to account for breaking the same laws that ATC will probably be enforcing on some other private individual tomorrow somewhere else and most likely threatening legal action on them. :rolleyes:

walrusgumble

iPhone. wrote: »

Why should the actions of the few discommode the many? If they have closed it because of the actions of a few drunks etc it's a poor reflection on the ATC.

They should be looking at a way of dealing with those that are mistreating the area and not punishing those that aren't. Seems a lazy way to deal with it TBH, or if the suggestion of a previous poster is true about it being done to suit a particular business that's an even poorer and more worrying reflection on ATC.

Does anyone have clarification from the council as to their reasons for definite?

The Garda Barracks is merely 2 minutes walk. Enough time to get over there while waiting for their chips from the Genoa, Beaumonts etc .... Plenty of Cameras too.

It is nonsense really, those skangers will find another way to stay on the Promenande

Clearly the Gallery fears that it's goods could be stolen