Councillors request removal of Traveller accommodation sites

THE Ennis West area councillors have lodged a submission requesting the removal of proposed Traveller accommodation sites from the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.
The submission was lodged on Monday after a motion was tabled by Councillor Brian Meaney, who is also the Traveller Accommodation Advisory Committee chairman.
Councillor Meaney told committee members he was “not against providing Traveller accommodation” but he stressed that “until we are in a position to get accommodation that travellers want” then there is no need to provide Traveller-specific accommodation.
He told the meeting that Travellers are looking for “standard accommodation” and suggested that housing from within the social housing stock would be “more effective, more cost-efficient and would be a more egalitarian position to take”.
Councillor Meaney added that “a motion from this committee recommending the removal of Traveller-specific accommodation would be a strong indication of the feelings of the Ennis West councillors” in relation to the re-assessment of Traveller accommodation in Ennis.
He said he had “thought long and hard before bringing this motion” because of his role as chairman of the Traveller Accommodation Advisory Committee but claimed the current provision of Traveller accommodation is “a disaster” for the Travellers themselves, for the communities and for the county council.
He stated that “just because we get funding, I don’t believe we can throw money at it willy-nilly”.
Councillor Meaney asked fellow committee members to support the motion to lodge a submission requesting the removal of Traveller accommodation from the Ennis and Environs Development Plan even though he accepted this view might not be adopted by the local authority when it comes before them for consideration.
Councillor James Breen gave his support to the motion and said Clare County Council had been to the “forefront of providing Traveller accommodation”.
He stressed that with four Traveller accommodation sites in Ennis, the council had “done enough for the Travelling community and now it is time to stop”.
“Some don’t respect what they get free gratis. We have done enough and now it’s time to cry stop,” he said.
Chairman of the Ennis West Committee, Councillor Tom McNamara, agreed that there is “adequate accommodation” for Travellers in Ennis with some units currently remaining unoccupied. He added lodging a submission of this kind is “one way of addressing” the matter.
It was agreed by the committee that a submission, which would take the form of the motion proposed, would be lodged to the proposed Ennis and Environs Development Plan prior to the cut-off period for submissions on Monday last.
In a formal response to the motion, John Bradley, senior executive planner with the planning land use and transportation section, stated it is a requirement under the Provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended that a development plan “shall include the provision of accommodation for Travellers, and the use of particular areas for such purposes”.
He noted the planning authority is therefore “statutorily bound” to make provision in its development plan for the provision of Traveller accommodation in the Ennis and Environs area.
In addition to this, he said the Joint Housing Strategy for the Clare Local Authorities and Limerick City and County Councils September 2010 has been prepared and was adopted by Clare County Council at its meeting of January 11 last. He said under this strategy, policy 6 of its key policies required that “the respective local authorities support the development of housing for people with special housing needs and for members of the Travelling community and will continue to support the input and contribution to the housing provision from the voluntary housing sector”.
He added, “It should be noted that the Variation No 2 has not added any new proposals but merely incorporated the existing provisions”.