Council refuse to erect fence around basketball court in Port

LAOIS County Council turned down a request from the cathaoirleach of the Graiguecullen/Portarlington Municipal District Council cllr Aidan Mullins to erect a fence around the basketball court in the People’s Park in Portarlington.

Setting out the reasons for the refusal the Sports and Leisure Officer with Laois County Council Ann Marie Maher said: “The People’s Park has recently been redesigned to open up recreational spaces within the park and be more inclusive. There is no health and safety requirement to fence off the mini court and fencing will not improve the playing experience. It is planned to install some seating near the court to encourage socialisation and a fence would exclude this.” She said if other factors need to be considered she would be happy to discuss them with cllr Mullins.” 

Not happy with the response cllr Mullins said: “I disagree that there is no health and safety requirement to fence this off or that it wouldn’t improve their playing experience.

“The problem at the moment is that when the ball leaves the court it tends to travel up to 50 metres. The games are then being disrupted while somebody goes to retrieve the balls. To say that it won’t improve the playing experience, I don’t accept that. It’s actually disrupting the playing experience at the moment. That’s the reason why the all-weather pitches are fenced in (beside the basketball court), because the balls don’t leave the playing areas.” 

He said: “I just don’t accept the answer that has been given. I also don’t think that what has been told will either be accepted by those who use that basketball court. I think it is very obvious to anybody that watches a basketball game how often the ball leaves the court area. The games and training are constantly being disrupted.”