Minutes of the joint meeting of Kilrush Electoral Area and Kilkee Town Council  held on Monday 11th  August 2008 at Sweeney Memorial Library, Kilkee at 8:00 p.m.

Cathaoirligh sa Cathair

• Cllr. Pat Keane, Cllr. PJ Linnane

I Láthair

• Cllr. Oliver Garry
• Cllr. Madeline Taylor Quinn
• Cllr. Christy Curtin
• Cllr. Tom Nolan
• Cllr. Claire Haugh
• Cllr. Lily Marrinan Sullivan
• Cllr. Brian Keane
• Cllr. Michael McGrath
• Cllr. Carmel Deloughery,

Apologies

• Cllr. PJ Kelly
• Cllr. PJ Lardner

I Láthair

• Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Service / Area Co-ordinator
• Derek Troy, Executive Engineer/Town Engineer
• John Corry, A/Town Clerk, Kilkee

Apologies

• David Timlin, Director of Service & Town Manager Kilkee

Cllr. Linnane opened the meeting welcoming everyone and advising that as it was a joint meeting of Kilkee Town Council & Kilrush Area Committee that both himself & Cllr. Pat Keane would jointly chair the meeting. Cllr. Linnane  welcomed the Area Committee Cllrs & the Director of Service / Area Co-ordinator to the meeting. Cllr. Linnane indicated that everyone was aware of what happened on the August Bank Holiday weekend but that there was no point in going back over that what needs to be done is to move forward & to put measures in place to prevent something like that ever happening again. He added that he would propose putting up barriers at the entrance to East End car park & also at entrance to car park at Georges Head.

Cllr P Keane echoed Cllr. Linnanes sentiments & said while acknowledging that the circumstances of the August Bank Holiday weekend were very unfortunate for businesses in Kilkee & for tourists that we needed to look forward to get solutions for this problem to prevent it ever happening again. Cllr. Keane added that Clare Co Council had done everything within its power to remove these illegaly parked travellers. He suggested that the barriers be put up in those two locations now & that during the winter to look at the town as a whole to see how we can prevent undesireable visitors from parking illegaly in Kilkee.

Cllr. Linnane then asked if there were any Cllrs. who wished to add their comments.

Cllr. McGrath asked if a barrier could be put up at the West End Car park as well.

Cllr.P Keane stated that need to be mindful of businesses  who need continued access to  West End Car park for deliveries etc that we do not impinge on their business .Also people who want to bring in & out boats & the Rescue Centre need to have access.

Cllr. Marrinan Sullivan stated that the barriers were a priority & that until they were put in place that we were going nowhere. She added that keys could be given to businesses & that they could be responsible for controlling barriers.

Cllr. Haugh agreed with Cllr. Marrinan & indicated that it was a priority to have barriers in place at the three mentioned locations prior to the commencement of the Cois Farraige festival in September. She added that there were other areas in the town that could be looked at in the future .

Cllr. Brian Keane questioned as to whether or not Kilkee TownCouncil had power to put in place Bye Laws to prevent illegal parking.

Cllr. Linnane indicated that Bye Laws were indeed in place & that areas were being patrolled by a warden.

Cllr. Marrinan Sullivan indicated that there were two vehicles parked on the footpath in the market area all day with no sign of the owners & she questioned as to why they had not got a parking ticket from the traffic warden.

Cllr. Curtin asked the Director of Service what funding was available for these preventitive measures.

B.Kinsella confirmed that there would be funding available in the Area roads budget.

Cllr. P. Keane indicated that Area Cllrs would endeveaour that Area budget monies would be used for securing these areas.

D. Troy indicated that he had already assessed the feasibility of putting up barriers & that a provisional order had been placed for two barriers pending the outcome of this meeting & that if agreed at meeting that barriers could be in place within a week.

Cllr. Marrinan Sullivan indicated that one of the barriers should be erected at the entrance to the commonage.

Cllr. Garry stated that it was a positive move by Clare Co Council to provide monies for the erection of these barriers. He added that it was regretable that they were required however the positive action of the council should be recognised.

Cllr B. Keane questioned what would happen if barriers were put up & locks broken.

Cllr P Keane indicated that locks would be protected from being damaged.

Cllr. Nolan stated that what happened in Kilkee on August Bank holiday weekend was an act of intimidation. Every person has an entitlement to visit Kilkee however the capacity of Kilkee to be able to deal with large crowds is an issue & it will be an issue once again at the upcoming Cois Farraige festival.
He added that the people of Kilkee who pay Commercial rates were let down by the people who should have enforced the law & that that should be publicly stated. He added that while the ethos of Kilkee should be that of a welcoming community that we need to restrict such a situation as happened ever happening again & that if that required putting up barriers then that’s what needed to be done. He added that the solution needed to be wider however than simply putting up barriers.

Cllr. P Keane agreed that going forward the people who should be enforcing the law needed to enforce same going forward.

Cllr. Taylor Quinn indicated that she visited the East End car park on the Saturday morning & that by 9am that Derek Troy had taken the registration numbers of 46 vehicles illegaly parked in the East end car park & had presented declarations to the Garda Station in Kilrush. Cllr Taylor Quinn indicated that she then contacted the Garda station in Kilrush to state that she wished that the illegaly parked vehicles be moved on immediately. The Sergeant on duty indicated to her that they didn’t have the manpower & that it would be Monday or Tuesday before they could be removed. Cllr. Taylor Quinn visited Kilkee on four occassions on Saturday & witnessed dumping etc. She later contacted the Superintendent in Kilrush & he indicated that he would have 40 Gardai in Kilkee the next morning but that he couldn’t cover the cost of towing the vehicles. When Cllr Taylor Quinn got back to the Superintendent later that evening to confirm that the County Manager had agreed that Clare County Council would cover the cost of removing the vehicles she stated that the Superintendent had agreed that he would personally supervise the towing of the vehicles on the Sunday afternoon. Cllr Taylor Quinn indicated that this did not happen. She added that action now needs to be taken to prevent this ever happening again. She also wished to thank Derek Troy for being at the car park early on Saturday morning of a bank holiday weekend & for communicating with her by telephone throughout the day.

Cllr. P Keane also commended Derek Troy & confirmed that the Superintendent had indeed given that commitment & that it was regretable that it wasn’t acted upon.

Cllr. Linnane suggested that the new Superintendent would be welcomed to a meeting of Kilkee Town Council at his earliest convenience.

Cllr. Curtin commended the Mayor of Clare on her proactive approach to the whole matter & stated that there would be a meeting of Kilrush Electoral Area in September & that the Superintendent be invited to the next Area meeting in September.

Cllr. P Keane stated that the barriers would be in place by September & that they could meet with the Superintendent in September to tell him what the Council expected from him in the future.

It was proposed by Cllr McGrath & seconded by Cllr. Haugh to allow the  public present to speak.

P. Mulcahy stated that when putting up barriers need to be mindful of busses that drop off in the car park.

Cllr Nolan called for visible signage to be put in place on approach routes to Kilkee to indicate that there were no facilities available in Kilkee for overnight parking of campers/caravans.

Cllr P. Keane felt that this would send out wrong message to visitors of Kilkee

Cllr. Garry agreed.

Cllr. P Keane stated that one of the main priorities of the Task Force on Tourism Subcomitee was to provide caravan parking facilities in Kilkee.It wont happen however for this season or maybe for next season but it is being examined.

Cllr. Marrinan Sullivan accepted that if Subcomittee were examining providing facilities for caravan parking in Kilkee however if these facilities could not be provided then she would agree with Cllr. Nolan that overnight parking not be allowed.

J. Williams stated that when erecting barriers that consideration should be given to the appearance of these barriers & that careful consideration be given to same.

Rep from Ocean Cove stated that very unfortunate that barriers had to be erected in order to address this situation

Cllr. Nolan confirmed that the owners of campers/caravans were welcome to stay in Kilkee by day but that there would be no facilities available in the town for them to park at night.

Cllr Haugh asked would the barriers be in place before the Cois Farraige festival.

D. Troy confirmed that they would be.He confirmed that the barriers to be erected would be at the following locations:

• At the East End car park on the public rd at Waterworld
• At the West End car park at entrance to commonage before car park
• At entrance to Georges Head

Cllr. P Keane asked if there was agreement to proceed with barriers.

There was unanimous agreement.

Cllrs. P. Keane & Linnane thanked everyone for attending & this concluded the business of the mtg.