RESIDENTS OF Ferndale Park have pleaded for action following a build-up of anti-social behaviour that culminated in a dangerous bonfire causing damage to residents’ property at Halloween.
The Echo met with a group of residents, who did not wish to be named or photographed for fear of being targeted by perpetrators as a result of speaking out. Most of those who spoke are long-term residents of the estate, and own their homes.
“I own my house and I’m not going to be run out of it. Even if I did want to leave, I wouldn’t be able to sell the house because of what goes on up here,” said one resident who added that they were ‘The Forgotten Estate’ of Wexford.
The residents spoke out after a bonfire set on Halloween Night spread to the clothesline of nearby residence, terrifying the residents inside where, on many occasions, a relative would be staying with her two children.
“This happened at 12:30 a.m. The whole estate could have been asleep and not realised there was a fire. It was with the luck of God that no one was killed. We rang the council when they were stockpiling.
“The problem is illegal dumping because that gives them something to burn but we’ve all seen people giving them out rubbish for their bonfires and have had them knock on our doors looking for stuff. If they didn’t have stuff to burn it would alleviate the problem.”
One resident pointed out that when she challenged the kids who called to her door, they egged her house and threw rubbish in her front garden.
Another resident remarked that most of the bonfires were started in an alleyway, just a few yards from the new Gymnastics Club and that most of the houses backing onto the lane had oil tanks in the back yard that could cause catastrophic damage if they caught fire.
The area in question bears all the hallmarks of long-term fire damage. Debris is strewn around the car park area – walls are scorched with burn marks as are a few skeletal trees and the grassy area. Walking towards the estate, an access alleyway is piled with rubbish but the residents explain that it would be worse if the last pile-up hadn’t been set on fire.
The alley is a walkway to the nearby shop, and a variety of community facilities such as the gymnastics club, the SIPTU offices, a youth club and the nearby primary school. However, the residents say that it has been unlit for many years now, which makes walking through it a daunting experience as it is a dumping ground as well as an area for the perpetrating teenagers to loiter.
[Full story in this week’s Echo]