Laois County Council heard how residents in a particular part of the county were left ‘intimidated’ and ‘scared’ by the presence of an ‘unauthorised settlement’.
Around 2020, a number of caravans moved into an area directly opposite The Heath GAA club.
These caravans were set up without any planning permission but it has taken just over five years for them to have been moved on.
At a meeting of the Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District on Wednesday, Fianna Fail Councillor Paschal McEvoy asked that measures be put in place to prevent them returning.
He said: “I am calling on Laois County Council to put in place measures that will stop unauthorised dwellings/caravans using land at a site at Treacy’s Cross The Heath in the future.
“Everyone is well aware of the situation here where caravans moved into the area pre-Covid and only left in recent weeks.
“The Housing Section worked hard to ensure their removal but I think it is very unfair that they can just pop up caravans wherever they want.
“Older people were scared and there was a lot of intimidation over the years – it just wasn’t a nice situation.
“Now that they are gone, measures need to be brought in to ensure that they or someone else don’t come back.”
Supporting Cllr McEvoy, Independent Councillor Aidan Mullins explained how a similar situation has arisen in Portarlington.
He said: “A short time after the Council moved the caravans from The Heath, some pulled in at the overflow car park at the back of the community centre in Portarlington.
“If I put my son in a caravan and set him up on my land, the council would be all over me.
“Yet these people can pull in, on private land sometimes, cause disruption and it takes ages to move them on.”
Independent Councillor Aisling Moran added: “The law is the law and everyone should have to abide by it.
“The cost of moving these people is astronomical also. Imagine what we could do with this money.
“We’re told we can’t move them on until they are offered a house. You offer them ten house and they keep turning them down.”
Currently, the site has been secured by clay as seen in the pictures in this article.
But a spokesperson for the council confirmed that measures will be installed to prevent future unauthorised dwellings.
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