• THE proposal to have longer opening hours at Caledonian Park visitor centre and café is not only ridiculous and unacceptable, but makes a mockery of residents, their thoughts on the matter and their welfare. This proves that this is a commercial enterprise, and not a community-inspired project.

After a long campaign that collected a lot of support (let’s just remember the 800-plus signatures on the last petition alone), the council still went ahead with a 250sq metre building just a few metres from residents’ homes, so I shouldn’t be surprised by the complete disrespect for constituents. All they care about is a giant cash cow they are now desperately trying to milk as much as possible.

There is no mention of how many fairs, parties and what-have-you they intend to have. It will probably be as many as possible. The proposal for 8am to 9pm opening every day, renting it out for parties and events, will cause an enormous, unfair amount of distress for people living nearby.

Longer opening hours will mean an increase in noise pollution and traffic, with deliveries coming and going from the early hours till late in the evening. Renting out the facility for parties will cause, again, a lot of noise and stress, with people coming and going until past 9pm.

The already scarce parking spaces in the area and its small roads will be further congested (by visitors arriving by car and deliveries), posing a real threat to safety. The area is full of children (there is a playground next to the centre and a school a few metres away) and elderly people. An increase in traffic can become dangerous.

Anti-social behaviour has always been an issue. Having an easy place where ill-intentioned youths can congregate has always been a concern. Longer hours could increase this.

In the past there have been a lot of anti-social behaviour problems during fairs in the park, with thefts at surrounding homes, nuisance throughout the day and into the evening, and increased litter and damage to the park.

This latest proposal is causing so much distress I can’t even think about the impact the centre will have on mine and other people’s wellbeing once up and running.

ALESSANDRA MILANI
N7