Residents withhold council rent in row over illegal Traveller camp
Residents in Fána Glas, Ballybane, are up in arms as a result of four caravans parked illegally on the estate.
A number of local residents are said to have stopped paying their rent to the Galway City Council to bring their attention to a problem that has led to major disruption for occupants.
Families who have parked their caravans in the residential area were already served with a notice to quit last week, under the Road Traffic Act, due to their positioning on a public road.
However, a spokesperson for Galway City Council has confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that families from the area were invited to meet with City Hall officials on Wednesday.
“Galway City Council homeless team and social workers are meeting with each of the families this week to assess them and they will be offered homeless services. We are required to meet with families prior to serving notices – notices will issue if the families do not avail of offers issued including homeless services.
“The previous contact in relation to these caravans was from the roads section because they are on the road in the estate,” he said.
The meeting was to ascertain if the occupiers of the caravans had already signed up for services provided by the Council.
“We need to establish if they are already on our lists, whether that’s housing or under the Traveller Accommodation Programme,” explained the spokesperson.
According to Galway City Councillor, Mike Cubbard, who was contacted by angered local residents, the saga has been going on too long.
“It is very unfair to law abiding citizens – there’s no respect for the community, no respect for residents and no respect for the council,” he said.