Alleygates close the door on criminals

The alleygates on Edenfield Road

A Norden resident has spoken about the way that alleygates have transformed her community as the Community Safety Partnership celebrated the milestone of more than 10,000 properties in the borough being secured by alleygates.

Bernice Clarke has gates fitted on the alleyway next to her home in Edenfield Road and says that they have given her peace of mind.

Mrs Clarke said: “Before we got these gates fitted, every weekend we had gangs of teenagers making noise until two in the morning. We didn’t get any sleep and they used to leave a huge mess, with broken bottles everywhere. They also used to damage the cars in the area.”

Miss Clarke continued: “Every single weekend we had problems, but since the alleygates were fitted the problem has more or less disappeared.”

In a recent neighbourhood satisfaction survey conducted by the Community Safey Unit, 89 per cent of people said that they felt safer after having alleygates fitted and 92 per cent stated that they were satisfied with the alleygating project.

Mrs Clarke added: “We feel a lot more secure now because we had a few break-ins at the back before the gates were fitted, so it really gives us peace of mind as residents, to know that we are the only people who can access the alley.”

Cabinet Member for Internal and Environmental Services, Councillor Martin Burke, said: “Alleygates are a key weapon in our fight against anti social behaviour, burglary and other crimes which have a corrosive effect on communities. The fact that 434 have now been fitted in our borough, covering more than 10,000 properties, is testament to how effective they are.”

The milestone came as the Community Safety Partnership launched Dark Knights Prevention Week in partnership with GMP, a series of activities aimed at keeping residents and their homes safe and secure during the long winter nights.

A different type of gate can now be fitted on cut throughs and footpaths where there is a record of high levels of anti social behaviour or burglary under new gating proposals, recently passed by the council’s cabinet.

Requests for these gates are only considered in areas where there is a high crime rate and other crime prevention measures have proved ineffective.