SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL has received hundreds of letters objecting to proposed plans for a site in Glenview, Sligo.
The Sligo Traveller Support Group claims the council is trying to put two Traveller families who don’t get on on the same site.
Manager of the Sligo Traveller Support Group Bernadette Maughan told TheJournal.ie:
“They are trying to bring families together that are not compatible, the gardaí know about it.”
The group also says that there was no consultation with Traveller representatives about the proposed plans.
The site is currently occupied by the Ward Traveller family, with 16 people living there.
However, the STSG says the proposals would see the McGinley family – who have lived in a local authority car park at Connaughton Road for 30 years – also housed at the Glenview site.
The group added that on Tuesday morning Sligo County Council attempted to move heavy machinery on to the Glenview halting site on Ash Lane. In a statement it said:
At approximately 9.30am council staff and contractors arrived with the machinery and the intention of moving onto the site to carry out work related to the proposed Glenview redevelopment plans.
Sligo County Council Sligo County Council says it “proposed to undertake investigative and survey work in relation to the conditions of the unused and derelict section of the existing halting site at Glenview”.
In a statement it added:
“The residents of the section of site currently occupied were notified by staff of the council’s intentions and the purpose of the council’s attendance on the site.”
The Sligo Traveller Support Group are calling on people to join a silent protest at Sligo County Council on Monday 11 June prior to the monthly meeting of councillors.
Bernadette Maughan of Sligo Traveller Support Group said, “We are asking councillors to vote against this development due to the lack of consultation with the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (LTACC), and families.”
The LTACC is made up of county councillors, local authority staff and representatives from the Traveller community. Its role is to “advise in relation to the preparation and implementation of the Sligo Traveller Accommodation Programme” and “advise on the provision and management of accommodation for Travellers”.
Maughan added, “We have submitted over 200 local objections and letters from Pavee Point and the Irish Traveller Movement. We hope the councillors on the day will take our advice and that of the families involved and vote against these plans.”
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