Beach Bear ‘in wrong place and too scary’
MALONEY SAYS SEVERAL HAVE ALREADY COMPLAINED
CONCERN over the controversial Beach Bear on Greystones' promenade was aired at last Tuesday's Greystones Town Council meeting.
In the build up to the meeting, the council had received a number of letters of complaint from local residents about the statue.
These complaints focussed on its fearsome appearance – which some residents believed was intimidating to young children – as well as the potential danger inherent in children climbing on the statue and its location within an area of architectural conservation.
Cllr Chris Maloney claimed to have been contacted by locals who were less than enamoured with the Beach Bear.
‘I've gotten numerous phone calls from residents saying the bear is in the wrong place – that it should be in a public park,' he said.
‘It is a danger, as children are swinging from it and playing on it and could fall off. A lot of small children are also scared of it. We should look at moving it to a more appropriate area – a lot of residents of the town are very upset over it.'
Mayor Stephen Stokes – who said he likes the statue itself – concurred that it could be moved to a more suitable location.
Area Engineer Eoin Heslin confirmed that the statue had been built site-specific.
The Beach Bear was unveiled earlier in the month, having been created as a memorial to local woman Caroline DwyerHickey who passed away last year.