Travellers: Use cleaned-up dump to provide accommodation for us

A GROUP representing Travellers has called for the Ellis’s Yard dump to be used to provide extra accommodation for families at the overcrowded Spring Lane halting site.

A €53,000 cleanup by Cork City Council is underway at the site after nearby residents raised fears that the illegal dump had become a rat-infested health hazard.

Burnt out cars, beds, commercial waste and thousands of rubbish bags have already been cleared from the Ballyvolane yard, located next to the Spring Lane halting site. It’s estimated that over 200,000kgs of illegally dumped waste will be removed. A spokesperson for the Traveller Visibility Group has called for funding to be secured to provide extra Traveller accommodation on the site.

The spokesperson for the Traveller group added: “We welcome the clean-up by Cork City Council of Spring Lane and Ellis Yard.

“This should bring great relief to the residents of both Spring Lane and the surrounding estates. Along with the clean-up, there needs to be a proactive plan to prevent future rubbish dumping.

“Much of Ellis’s Yard has been zoned for Traveller accommodation as far back as 2015. Time is long overdue that the current City Development Plan gets implemented in this regard.

“For too long, funding available at national level for the building of Traveller accommodation has not been drawn down.

“Along with this, City Council needs to re-start its estate management meetings and meet with the residents in Spring Lane to discuss and agree ongoing maintenance issues, including the issue of rubbish disposal.

“The existing site, built for 10 families, is almost 30 years old. It now accommodates about 35 families, including close to 100 children, and is in urgent need of refurbishment.

“In our view, direct engagement with, and involvement of, the Spring Lane residents is key to finding amicable solutions,” the TVG spokesperson added.