Councillors cry foul after illegal parking allowed at the Quay in Westport

MAYO County Council has been accused of turning a blind eye to bylaws on illegal parking by allowing vehicles to park illegally at Westport Quay last week.

Close to ten camper vans and caravans were illegally parked at Roman Island for over a week after the lock on a barrier was removed. Overnight parking along the harbour area of Westport is prohibited under the harbour bylaws. However, according to a senior council official, a decision was taken not to enforce the bylaws in this instance.

The owners of vehicles in question were members of the Travelling Community who had come to the town ahead of planned charity climbs of Croagh Patrick on Saturday.

Padraig Walsh, Head of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District, told the monthly meeting of the municipal district that the decision not to act was taken in order not to ‘inflame’ the situation.

“Given that the camper vans [had gained admission] on the night, we felt that to have an authorised officer issue fines under the harbour by-laws would probably inflame the situation quite a lot. On the basis of that we decided that it was not a good idea, and I still think it was the right decision at the time,” Mr Walsh told the meeting.

However, Westport-based councillors expressed anger and frustration that the local authority had not moved the camper vans on. They were further angered when Mr Walsh informed them that the people who were parked illegally were issued with refuse bags in which to place their rubbish, which would be collected for free by the council.

“If that has happened it is a shocking indictment of the council,” commented Cllr Brendan Mulroy. “It is bad enough that people are breaking the law but facilitating them by picking up the litter after them is a different matter.

“If we are facilitating people by helping them to break the law and ensure they have a lovely holiday and stay, that is even worse and needs answering.”

Closed doors

A number of pubs in Westport closed their doors over the weekend due to expectations that large groups of Travellers would be coming to climb Croagh Patrick in a charity climb headed by former Big Brother winner, Paddy Doherty. Fears had been heightened due to widely aired concerns about impending violence among feuding families.

A smaller crowd than was expected came to Westport, but a number of businesses decided not to open regardless. Barriers were put at the entrance of many public areas to discourage the illegal parking of caravans and camper vans.

Double standards

Westport councillor Peter Flynn said that the event on Croagh Patrick was planned without the organisers going through the proper protocol with the Gardaí and the Council. He argued that this should not be allowed to happen. He added that he felt that what had occurred at the Quay was an example of one rule of one community and another rule for another.

“If you want to know if the world is gone mad, go down to the Quay last week and witness what has happened. We had one law for one set of individuals and a completely different law for another.

“No action has been taken and no fines issued to the camper vans in question. If it was any other camper van community, there would be fines thrown out to beat the band.

“What was worse, they were given a key to the barrier to get in and out during the week. I witnessed them open up the barrier allowing two of their colleagues in on Tuesday evening.

“We issued fines for €80,000 last year for illegal parking and yet we had a significant issue with a group of camper vans where action should have been taken and wasn’t. I think we have lost the plot in terms of law and order in our county,” he said.

Cllr Flynn was supported by Cllr Mulroy, who said that the council should take into account the loss of business over the weekend when asking businesses to pay rates. He said that it was not acceptable that people who break the law are facilitated.

“It is very hard to stomach paying a parking fine when 100 yards down the road the laws are being broken and no one is being fined. That is hard to take.

“Are we saying that anyone can get past the barrier at the Quay, and for fear of upsetting anyone we will not interfere with anyone?” he said.

New officer

Independent councillor John O’Malley claimed that despite the illegal campers being given refuse bags they still dumped rubbish into the sea. Litter was now washing up on the shore, he said.

Cllr Flynn called for action to be taken to ensure there is no repeat of last week and for a proper plan to be put in place for the Quay area. He said if this was not done by October he would propose the suspension of all parking bylaws in Westport.

Mr Walsh said that a new lock and code will be placed on the barrier this week and that the council will be seeking to appoint a new authorised officer to police the harbour bylaws, which he said are different from town bylaws.

He added that the refuse bags were given in response to a request from local business people to help control litter in the area.