SERVICE users at the Glen Community Complex on the Suffolk Road are once again raising serious concerns about road safety following another vehicle collision, this time involving three cars on Friday evening.
The incident occurred outside the complex on the Suffolk Road where vehicles continue to park on double yellow lines, creating ongoing safety concerns for service users, children, young people and the wider community.
At the time of the incident, more than 80 young people were inside the building attending the Friday night youth disco. The collision caused considerable distress, with several children left shocked and upset and some in tears.
This is just the latest road accident to take place on the stretch of road in recent months.
Paul Niblock, Youth Manager at Glen Community Parent Youth Group, said he is "extremely concerned that we are continuing to experience these incidents outside the Complex, and the situation is becoming increasingly serious".
He added: "On Friday evening, we had over 80 young people inside our building enjoying their youth disco when this collision occurred. To have children and young people left shocked and in tears because of an incident outside their own community facility is simply unacceptable.
"One of the vehicles involved belonged to an elderly gentleman who was collecting his grandchildren. Thankfully, we are not aware of any serious injuries arising from this particular incident, but we cannot continue to rely on good fortune.
"I know we may sound like a broken record at this stage but we have repeatedly raised concerns about vehicles parking on the double yellow lines outside the Complex. The situation is getting worse, and we are genuinely fearful that someone could be seriously injured if urgent action is not taken."
"We are simply asking for the safety of our service users, our young people and the wider community to be taken seriously.
"We will continue to raise these concerns until meaningful action is taken. We hope that the relevant authorities will recognise the seriousness of the situation and work with us to find a solution before a much more serious incident occurs."
Complex Manager Michael Doherty added: "At the beginning of our Annual Summer Scheme in July, we had one of our members knocked down outside the Complex and we asked for a meeting with DFI officials to once again press for Traffic Calming measures. However following that meeting, the third in four years, the DFI official rejected all solutions offered by ourselves and local elected representatives.
"Two weeks ago, just 50 yards from our Complex, we had another serious road accident on the Suffolk Road with a local man requiring hospital treatment and his car badly damaged. Does it require someone to be killed in a traffic accident on the Suffolk Road before adequate traffic measures are installed by DFI?"
