Westport councillors expressed outrage yesterday after they discovered that Mayo County Council had provided black plastic refuse bags and collected the rubbish from a group of more than 8 caravans that has parked up illegally at the harbour quay in Westport for days.

Access to the harbour area is restricted by a padlock, however, the padlock was smashed and the caravans managed to park up and stayed there for up to eight days.

Councillors asked why no parking fines were imposed on these caravans, considering the number of parking fines that are imposed in Westport generally.

Council officials explained that it is not the responsibility of the parking wardens to issue tickets in the harbour area, rather an Authorised Officer is in charge, but at present there is no full time person appointed to this position and it was decided not to issue any fines on this occasion.

It was Fianna Fail councillor Brendan Mulroy that asked council management directly was it true that despite, the group of caravan owners parking up on an unauthorised area and damaging council property, that the local authority provided these people with a free refuse collection. The response he received was that the rubbish was collected by Mayo County Council at the request of local businesses, keen to maintain the town’s Tidy town status.

Councillor Mulroy outlined his frustration with the situation to Midwest News Editor Teresa O’Malley...