New by-laws to regulate Westport Harbour

New by-laws adopted to regulate Westport Harbour


Anton McNulty

The introduction of new by-laws to regulate activities around Westport Harbour will give the Council ‘legal teeth’ to deal with issues such as abandoned boats, councillors have been informed.
The by-laws for Westport Harbour were discussed at last week’s monthly meeting of the West Mayo Municipal District where councillors agreed to adopt the bye-laws despite calls to defer the adoption in order for councillors to conduct an on-site meeting to see how they work.
Director of Services, Martin Keating, explained that the by-laws were necessary in order to regulate the activities around the harbour and allowing the Council to deal with issues that may arise.
“We are dealing with an abandoned vessel that has been there for a substantial period of time and is in decay and is an eyesore. Without the backing of a by-law we will not be able to tackle an issue like that,” he explained.
Mr Keating added that the harbour area around Westport had been under developed, had a lot of potential in relation to the tourism sector and had ‘a lot more to offer’.
Independent councillor Christy Hyland said that the by-laws mentioned that boats will not be allowed to moor by the quay wall and suggested that they have an on-site visit to see how it will work in practice.
He was supported by Fianna FΡil councillor Brendan Mulroy who said the area around the harbour needed tidying up and regulation but in the interest of transparency he felt a site visit should be undertaken.

‘Substantially happy’
Kieran Lynn, the Council’s Senior Executive Engineer with responsibility for Piers and Harbours, explained that he had worked closely with the Westport Boatowners Association and they were ‘substantially happy’ with the draft by-laws. He said the purpose of the by-laws was to give the Council ‘legal teeth’ to deal with issues. In relation to an on-site visit, he added he would meet with anyone.
Cllr Hyland added that there were now bays in the harbour for mooring boats and they had not been used and asked why this was the case. Mr Lynn replied that some boats were taken out of the water before they were completed and Mr Keating said they were not asking them to move their boats this year and the number of bays had exceeded demand.

New Coastguard station
The councillors also agreed to approve the disposal of land at Roman Island beside the Harbour to the OPW for the site of the new Westport Coast Guard station.
Mr Keating said the coast guard operated an important service to the community and as a gesture of goodwill they were providing the site for free.
Fine Gael councillor Tereasa Maguire said the coastguard put their lives at risk to save lives and the Council should do all they could to facilitate the volunteers. The Council executive were praised for giving the site for free and Mr Keating explained that planning for the new station is expected to begin in the New Year and was hopeful funding will be forthcoming to start the construction phase.