Council asked to tackle illegal encampments

Service roads just off the motorway approaching Ballinasloe are being used as illegal encampments by members of the Travelling community.

These service roads were used during the construction of the motorway and are now just being used by local landowners to access their property.

But now Travellers have moved in to these roads and Galway County Council has been asked to deal with the matter.

A meeting of Ballinasloe Municipal Council was informed that was an illegal encampment on one of these service roads close to the town.

The matter was raised by Cllr. Aidan Donohue of Fine Gael who said that it was not acceptable from a visual point of view.

He asked officials if there could be a barrier put up on these roads to prevent illegal settlements from taking place. He said that these roads were links to several farms.

Senior Roads Engineer Evan Molloy said that the involvement of the land owners in area was required in this situation.

He said that it was not a public road but he gave an undertaking to make contact with the operators of the M6 Motorway to try and deal with the situation.

Sinn Fein’s Cllr. Dermot Connolly made reference to a similar road at Beechlawn, Ballinasloe where he said that there was a problem with access.

He asked what was the situation if this road was being used for unauthorised purposes.

Chairman Cllr. Michael Connolly asked if he too was referring to an illegal settlement. “I never said that”, replied Cllr. Dermot Connolly.

In response Evan Molloy said that it would probably require the extinguishing of a right of way in this particular case. He said that this would have to go through the process of being published.

Cllr. Timmy Broderick asked what was the status of roads that had become cul-de-sacs as a result of the construction of the M6 Motorway.

He was informed that service roads were the responsibility of operators of the motorway. He was also informed that Council roads that had terminated as a result of the motorway would be maintained by the local authority.

But the issue of illegal settlements of the motorway on the approaches to Ballinasloe will be investigated by officials.