Taskforce to be set up to deal with Derry & Strabane's neglected lanes and alleyways

In a motion, put forward during November’s council meeting, People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin said several alleyways and back lanes were in a state of neglect, resulting in overgrown vegetation, litter, damaged surfaces, and poor lighting.

“The lack of maintenance creates a sense of blight and frustration for residents and is an access, health and safety hazard, particularly for children, elderly residents and those with a disability,” the motion added.

“Council Officers will prepare a paper on lane and alleyway neglect and dereliction with a view to identifying areas of responsibility, clean-up solutions, and regeneration proposals. Following on from this, a Lanes and Alleyways Task Force involving officers and members will be set up.

“Following local community input and consultation, the Task Force will take forward proposals with the goal of transforming lanes and alleyways to have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our residents and communities.”

Councillor Harkin said he had been contacted by residents around the state of back lanes and alleys, and had personally organised clean ups.

“You’re talking sometimes about weeds that are seven feet high,” he said. “You’ll have fly tipping, you’ll have thrown away washing machines, you’ll have broken glass, and this is very frustrating for residents,” he said.

“When you do it once you go back there three months and it’s the same, and obviously individuals, councillors, or a group of volunteers maybe don’t have the capacity to do it constantly.

“I know that many Housing Executive and housing association lanes are actually very well maintained and workers will be out there regularly cleaning them up, but that’s not the case with everybody’s laneways.

“There’s some organisations who get some funding to do lane clean-ups, but my understanding is that they are not properly funded to do this work in a systematic and ongoing way.

“So this is something that the council should look at; we should do a bit of mapping to understand how many lanes are in bad shape. We should look at strategies to clean up the lanes.”

Independent councillor Raymond Barr said a governmental department decision not to replace streetlights on streets in the Sperrin DEA had led to them becoming “a haven for anti -social behaviour, dog fouling, fly-tipping” at night time.

“Year after year rates are increased, but services are being reduced.

Independent councillor Shauna Cusack said she has had seen dereliction in lanes between terraced houses near Magee University and on the Strand Road.

“They do become dumping grounds,” she said. “Then we have the wall block of who picks it up, who disposes of it, who cleans it, who pays for it. It is very, very difficult to get over.”

DUP alderman Keith Kerrigan amended the motion, asking that the report and Task Force takes place in conjunction with DfI, the Housing Executive and “other appropriate stakeholders”.

He added: “It’s quite a large bit of work to be left in the hands of council. There’s a large area to cover, and a lot of these parts of the ground are either DfI controlled or Housing Executive controlled.

“If we can map what is the Housing Executive’s, because that takes the pressure off us, because it’s not just within the city. It’s how we deal with these other agencies, because councils sometimes are doing too much or doing more than they should be.”

Sinn Féin councillor Brian Harte agreed that statutory bodies should be held to account for their areas of responsibility, but in many instances responsibility “may fall into a grey area”.

“If we can find solutions to this it would be most welcome,” he concluded. “Sometimes trying to figure out who owns what – you call the Housing Executive and DfI and they say they don’t own it – so if we can find a solution to those problems.”

Speaking after the motion was passed, Colr. Harkin said: "The state of many lanes and alleyways in the City and across the Council District is a constant source of frustration and anxiety for many residents, particularly the elderly, those with a disability and parents of young children.

“I welcome the unanimous support for the People Before Profit motion for the Council to set-up a Lanes and Alleyways Task Force.

“There are many positive examples of regenerated lanes and alleyways that can be drawn upon by the task force. Community consultation and participation be vital along with the involvement of statutory bodies.

“There's no doubt addressing lanes and alleyways blight can have a very positive impact for residents and communities."

The full text to Colr. Harkin’s motion to the November meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council read as follows:

"Council agrees there are areas in the City and District where many back lanes and alleyways are in a state of neglect resulting in overgrown vegetation, litter, damaged surfaces and poor lighting.

“The lack of maintenance creates a sense of blight and frustration for residents and is a access, health and safety hazard particularly for children, elderly residents and those with a disability.

“Council Officers will prepare a paper on lane and alleyway neglect and dereliction with a view to identifying areas of responsibility, clean-up solutions and regeneration proposals. Following on from this, a Lanes and Alleyways Task Force involving Officers and Members will be set up.

“Following local community input and consultation, the Task Force will take forward proposals with the goal of transforming lanes and alleyways to have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our residents and communities."