‘Creating a monster’ - Concerns raised over people camping at Waterford beach

Concerns have been raised over people camping at a beach in County Waterford.

Sinn Féin councillor Pat Fitzgerald spoke on the subject at the July meeting of the Waterford Metropolitan District.

Cllr Fitzgerald: “At Woodstown Beach, I’ve got several calls from residents there referring to the bye-laws about camper wagons and tents and things at the beach.

“I can see why they’re complaining. There are quite a lot of them and they are quite untidy.

“In the past, our staff have been threatened there.”

He continued by saying that in the past, there used to be marram grass in the location where people are now parking.

Cllr Fitzgerald outlined how these dunes were replaced by grass by someone “probably with the best intentions”.

He said that whoever planted the grass was “creating a monster”, given the number of people who now camp in the area.

“Every year this comes up,” Cllr Fitzgerald added.

He concluded by calling on the local authority to take action to restore the dunes in the area and prevent people from camping there.

In response, Gráinne Kennedy, Climate Action Co-Ordinator at Waterford City and County Council, said that the council is looking at restoring dunes throughout the county.

Ms Kennedy said: “When it comes to dune restoration, it’s something we’re looking at.

“There are areas where the dune has been completely ruined so we need to speak to National Parks & Wildlife as to how to approach that.”

Meanwhile, Director of Service Gabriel Hynes outlined what the local authority is doing to tackle the issue at present.

Mr Hynes said: “We had the gardaí and we had our enforcement team down in Woodstown yesterday.

“We have issued notices and we have done that similarly in other locations around the county.”

He concluded by saying that the council is enforcing its beach bye-laws in the area.