The harbour barriers have created quite the conversation over the past week, but the only articles being posted are those of ‘horror’ or protests in response.

I feel it is equally as important to see things from the other side, and I invite readers to do the same, whether they ultimately end up at the same anti-barrier destination or not.

It is always important to hear both sides before you make a decision.

I have personally spoken to those who are against the barriers going up and those who have been fighting to have them fitted for years, and both have their own arguments, but I think one side is being publicised more.

This doesn’t make a conversation, this causes unnecessary conflict — and if you really listened to the victims, you’d see that with that conflict comes heartache, demoralisation, and triggers grief that never strayed too far from the surface.

Stepping away from blaming the council, can we take a breath to recognise that there are people; mothers, fathers, brothers, family and friends of people who have died as a result of falling from that harbour wall.

Those of which who have campaigned every day since for some kind of safety barrier to prevent any further accidents, those of which who sit and read your comments with the deepest emotional involvement — who have the only kind of victory possible from their indescribable event, and are now met with personal attacks and dramatised backlash.

For something you didn’t even care enough to know they had been fighting for for years now.

The barriers will not prevent crabbing, it is not a brick wall, and pedestrians will still have benches; they can and have asked for more seating areas.

It can be appreciated that old Weymouth tradition may be lost with the barriers, it can be appreciated that it may lose appeal, or even that the residents were not consulted and they feel cheated or unimportant due to this.

People are going to drink regardless, shouldn’t they be safe whilst doing so? It’s a small price to pay; appearance for safety.

It may not stop an intoxicated individual from climbing over, but it’ll definitely stop the drunken teenager from walking along it and falling in. It’ll allow children to walk along it safely.

You cannot tell me that safety barriers will not minimise risks.

GEMMA ERYILMAZ

Weymouth