Waterford Metropolitan Cllrs have voted against the local authority's plans for Traveller accommodation at Carrickphierish.
The Part 8 Traveller accommodation on the Carrickphierish Road was to consist of a seven-bay halting site.
The vote was taken again following a High Court Challenge made earlier this year, which resulted in the initial decision being revoked.
At the time, two members of the Irish Traveller Community, Ellen Delaney and Mary O'Reilly brought judicial review proceedings against the Council.
In a special meeting of Waterford city Cllrs that took place yesterday, Cllr Joe Kelly proposed that the council's plans for the development would not proceed.
The proposal that was put forward by the Mayor of Waterford City and County and seconded by Cllr Joe Conway stated that the development recommended by the Chief Executive of Waterford Council would not proceed for the following reasons:
1) The Traveller Accommodation Programme, the implementation of which is a clear objective of our development plan, provides in respect of Traveller Accommodation projects for ongoing consultation with Traveller families, the wider community and elected Council members. I consider that the lack of wider public consultation with the public or with the intended occupants of the proposed development, outside of the statutory public consultation required for the Part 8, is not consistent with the development of sustainable communities and proper planning and that insufficient consideration has been given to alternative designs and accommodation types. In the context of design I would also point out that I consider the open space provision to be sub-standard and as a consequence the design needs fundamental reappraisal.
2) I consider that the proposal to develop an additional site access on this primary route, which I believe to be a departure from normal roads policy, in close proximity to a number of other vehicular entrances, should be subject to a Road Safety Audit and that, in the absence of such a safety assessment, it has not been clearly demonstrated that the proposed development would not endanger public safety.
A roll-call vote took place following Cllr Kelly's proposal, with 15 Cllrs for, and two Cllrs against - the Green Party's Cristíona Kiely and Metropolitan Mayor, Labour's Seamus Ryan.
Reaction to the vote
Sinn Féin Cllr John Hearne made a claim yesterday that a number of Travellers at the site did not want this seven-bay halting site, but instead were seeking social housing.
Cllr Hearne’s comments were disputed by Metropolitan Mayor Seamus Ryan.
"The reason I didn't vote for this the last time (March 2021) was because I consulted with Travellers living at the site, and they said they didn't want bays put in.
"When I went up again on Monday, (December 6th, 2021), I met four different families and they said they all wanted housing, and two of them had said they had already engaged with the council about obtaining this housing [across the road from the site]," Cllr Hearne said.
Metropolitan Mayor and Labour Cllr Seamus Ryan argued against John Hearne's claims.
"To clarify, this issue will be brought back to council within the next few months in 2021 and I appreciate that.
"Just to say John we have all been engaging with Travellers and that's not the message that I have picked up from Travellers," Cllr Ryan said.
Outcome of the vote
Following the vote, Director of Services with Waterford City and Council Kieran Kehoe said that Waterford Council is now going to begin a public consultation with all of the people involved in this development in the new year.
This consultation will include people living at the site, local residents, Traveller representative groups and the area's local representatives.
After this, a revised proposal will be developed to ‘satisfy the need for accommodation’ for the people currently living at the site on the Carrickphierish Road.
