Call for action on campervan occupying public spaces in Leitrim town

Concerns have been raised in Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District about the impracticality and unsightliness of campervans occupying public car park spaces in the town.

At December’s meeting, Cllr Maeve Reynolds asked Leitrim County Council to clarify what measures can be taken to address the growing issue of campervans occupying public car park spaces in Carrick-on-Shannon.

“The campervans reverse back over footpaths so that any wheelchairs or buggies can’t use footpaths. They’re taking up space and car park spaces.

She described how some campervan users are using public bins, leaving them overflowing after they depart.

“While we want to welcome all visitors to the town, we don’t want campervans taking up much needed parking spaces for the town.

“We don’t want to see paid parking resuming and we don’t want to create difficulty for people that are there but we need to address byelaws,” Cllr Reynolds said.

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At the December meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon M.D., it was agreed to write to the four newly elected TDs in an effort to reverse An Post's decision.

In a similar motion that followed, Cllr Cormac Flynn urged a process must begin to create a byelaw or byelaws to allow the Council to effectively deal with the issue.

“When the Council went to ask people to move, they really had no statutory rights to ask them to move anywhere.

“So we need a byelaw to give the Council some statutory legislation to allow them to deal with this issue,” he commented.

Cllr Flynn remarked that it can be unsightly, goes against the efforts of the Tidy Towns volunteers, who have worked hard to maintain the area, to have it disrupted by a few individuals.

He noted that there is camping available in Carrickcraft.

Councillors were informed that this issue will be on the SPC work programme for Q1 of 2025. If byelaws are deemed the appropriate mechanism, it will likely be referred back to the Carrick-on-Shannon M.D. or the full Council.

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