BOROUGH'S SEX SHAME
NEWTOWNABBEY is "king of the swingers" - and its latest claim to fame has no connection with its proximity to Belfast Zoo.
The more startling explanation is that the borough has developed a reputation as a hotspot for public sex orgies.
According to the website swing4ireland, picturesque Hazelbank Park along the Shore Road is among the most popular hunting grounds in County Antrim for those involved in "dogging."
And former Mayor Nigel Hamilton (pictured below) claimed this week that "lewd acts" are also taking place in Ballyclare's public toilets in broad daylight.
The dogging practice got its name from the term "walking the dog" - an excuse given by many participants to go out and watch couples having sex, or to join in themselves.
The unsavoury swing4ireland website, which has almost 38,000 members, lists County Antrim as top of the league for seedy outdoor sex sessions, with 27 locations littered from the White Rocks at Portrush to Hillsborough Forest.
The Newtownabbey Council operated public park in Whitehouse, which has a playground and is popular with families, is listed twice.
One swing4ireland member recommends: "Try one of the car parks at Hazelbank, Whitehouse. Lots of lights so needs some care, but makes viewing easier. Also very open so you can see anyone arriving - best after 10 p.m."
Also highlighted as a top spot for dogging is Knockagh Monument at Greenisland.
Condemning reports of sex in public places across Newtownabbey, former Mayor Nigel Hamilton said he believed that dogging had been taking place not only at Hazelbank Park but in public spaces around Ballyclare too.
"This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and is a criminal offence," he commented.
"The police have a responsibility to monitor these key areas and deal with the problem appropriately."
The DUP representative, who is also a member of Newtownabbey District Policing Partnership, continued: "These lewd acts are occurring in daylight hours in Ballyclare public toilets and often in the early evenings at Hazelbank.
"The people who engage in this type of activity publicly have no regard for other members of the public and the distress this may cause young children using public spaces."
Alderman Hamilton added that the sex sessions in Ballyclare toilets had put the future of the Main Street facility in doubt for some time.
He suggested that the problem could be helped by introducing wardens and increased CCTV in trouble spots and said he intended to raise the matter at the next meeting of the council's Environment Committee.
"However, CCTV can only act as an addition to, not a replacement of, police resources. Increased police patrols, both by car and on foot, will help to eradicate these ongoing obscene criminal offences," he concluded.
This isn't the first time Hazelbank Park has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Complaints about the secluded beauty spot being used as a homosexual meeting place date back over 20 years, and at one stage there was a series of widely publicised court cases as police attempted to "clean up" the park.
In 2000, there was a proposal that a hotel development on the site could provide a higher level of surveillance, but the idea never came to fruition.
At that time Councillors also clashed over whether a fence encircling the park would stop anti-social behaviour, or whether the area should be more open to allow greater visibility.
As the row rumbled on, it was featured on the gay-ireland website, highlighting Hazelbank's reputation as "a homosexual pick-up area."
In a statement this week, Newtownabbey Council said it had not received any complaints about parks or toilets in relation to the activities highlighted recently in the press.
A spokesperson added: "The Council is, however, continuing to look at measures to deal with anti-social behaviour in public places."
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Weather for Newtownabbey
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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