Green Party councillor and Cathaoirleach of Bray Town Council welcomed this week’s relocation of the travellers who have been living at the illegal encampment at Hollybrook, Bray.

The illegal traveller’s encampment at Hollybrook, next to the roundabout at Hills Garage, has existed for the past eight years. The site has been the subject of many complaints from members of the public in relation to illegal dumping, road safety hazards and poor living conditions, particularly for traveller children living at the site.

According to Cllr de Burca the relocation of the travellers living on this site was a priority for the Green Party councillors elected onto Bray Town Council at the last local elections. “We felt that this illegal encampment on an important entry road into Bray reflected very badly on the town, given the amount of illegal waste that had built up there and the appalling conditions in which those travellers on the site were living” she says. “There were particular concerns about the young children living on the site and the road safety issues that resulted from the site being so close to the road”.

Cllr de Burca says that the traveller families that lived at the site have been relocated to alternative accommodation elsewhere. “We can only hope that this relocation will be successful for both the traveller families and for the local communities involved” she says. “As councillors, we will certainly be monitoring the situation very carefully as there has been controversy about the area to which at least one of the families has been relocated”.

The Green Party councillor says that the issue of providing traveller accommodation has proved to be one of the most difficult and controversial political issues on Wicklow County Council. “None of us want to see illegal encampments springing up all over the county” she says. “And yet the only way we can avoid this happening is for the council to provide accommodation options for the travellers, including group housing schemes and halting sites. There are many complications surrounding the selection of sites for such accommodation and to be honest, as councillors, it is one of the most challenging issues that we must face”.

Cllr de Burca says that Wicklow County Council and the various town councils in the county have a hugely important role to play in addressing the issue of providing traveller accommodation. She believes that the proper upkeep and maintenance of existing group housing schemes and halting sites is vital if members of the public are to have confidence that new proposed facilities will be properly looked after.

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Press Release by Deirdre