Waterford Council to rework halting site plans after latest refusal

Proposed Traveller accommodation in Waterford city has been voted down for a third time

Waterford Council’s senior management will look to rework plans for a halting site “in the shortest time frame possible” following its latest refusal by councillors.

Proposed Traveller accommodation in Waterford city was rejected by local politicians during the week — the third time it has been voted down — despite the High Court quashing a previous decision by councillors not to go ahead with the accommodation.

Mayor of Waterford Joe Kelly argued that the proposed seven bays at Carrickphierish lacked a "wider public consultation" with local residents and Travellers, ahead of an overwhelming vote in favour of seeking the proposal to be reworked.

Waterford Council's executive said it would now look for meetings with councillors, Traveller accommodation representatives and local residents to discuss the project in the new year, so that a revised proposal could be put on the table in the "shortest time frame possible".

The site, on the outskirts of the city, has seen chronic overcrowding in recent years as families have doubled and trebled-up in bays.

However the seven-bay proposal had been rejected twice before by councillors ahead of Wednesday's meeting.

This resulted in a case being taken to the High Court by sisters-in-law Ellen Delaney and Mary O'Reilly who challenged the council's decision, arguing that the decision breached the local authority's housing obligations, and ignored certain human rights legislation.

The High Court heard last month that the matter had been resolved and that it had been agreed by both sides that an order could be made quashing the council's decision. The council agreed to pay the legal costs.

At Wednesday’s special meeting of Waterford's Metropolitan District, director of services Kieran Kehoe said members were faced with accepting it, varying or modifying it, or deciding not to proceed with the development.

He added that the council executive still supports the implementation of the accommodation and warned councillors they would need to provide reasoning for their decision.

Mr Kelly accepted that the State-supported Traveller Accommodation Programme was part of the City and County Council's Development Plan, but said there had been "a lack of wider public consultation with the public or with the intended occupants of the proposed development, outside of the statutory" obligations required for such projects.

He said the open-space aspect of the development is "substandard" and an additional site access on the road is "a departure from normal roads policy" as the road is considered a primary route. Kelly called for a full road safety audit of the plan.

The final vote came to 15 in favour of Mr Kelly's proposal — with support from Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, a member of the Green Party and Independents — while a councillor each from Labour and the Greens were against the plan to block the accommodation.

Mr Kehoe said senior council management would enter into discussions with stakeholders in the New Year so that a revised proposal to satisfy the need for accommodation could be brought forward in the "shortest time frame possible".