Move to reinstate parking on beach blocked

An attempt by two councillors to overturn the ban on vehicles on Meath’s seven-mile beach failed at a meeting of the county council this week in the midst of more controversy about the issue.

The proposal to ban cars on the beach, along with off-lead dogs, was voted through by councillors on the Laytown Bettystown Municipal District Council early last year and while some people support the ban claiming that it makes the beaches safer for families, the elderly and the disabled, others say it is damaging for businesses on the coastal strip.

On sunny days, off-beach parking is at a premium and there have been calls for the construction of better facilities to cater for the thousands who crowd the area every year.

The ban on vehicles was endorsed when it came up before two council sub-committees. However, at this week’s council meeting Fine Gael Cllr Paddy Meade repeated earlier assertions that the ban on vehicles was bad for the area in general. When the beach management plan first came before the municipal council, he voted against it and said that Bettystown did so well because people were able to drive onto the beach. He was also against the ban on horse riding in the sand dunes running along the coast.

When he put his proposal calling for the ending of the ban on vehicles before the council on Monday he was backed up by Fianna Fail Cllr Tom Behan who said that it was a longer-term objective to move vehicles off the beach but not now because there were no facilities for off-beach parking. He put forward the idea of having a special cordoned-off area on the beach for the cars of senior citizens and the disabled. A controlled facility of that kind would mean that there would be no joyriding up and down the beach.

He said that the council must reverse its earlier decision and allow vehicles back on the beach.

The Meade-Behan proposal met with opposition from Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan who said that she was very disappointed that the councillors were having the debate. She said the overwhelming majority of 4,000 people who had signed petitions relating to the issue had backed the ban on vehicles.

Since the ban had come in the environment in the area had improved, the bird life had improved. Being able to walk on the beach had helped people through the lockdown. People who were elderly or were disabled could now use the beach without fear of being run over or being reversed upon.

Cllr Tolan said she could “go on for ever” giving good reasons why the ban should be retained. What had happened, she added, was that businesses in the area had recorded a 44 per cent increases in the area since the ban had come in.

Cllrs Gerry O’Connor, Alan Tobin and Amanda Smith supported the ban. Cllr Nick Killian said he would not like to think that the issue was one for the Laytown-Bettytsown area – it was one for the whole county. He expressed the opinion that it was now a pleasure to walk on the beach.

By a show of hands the councillors voted 16 to eight in favour of a proposal “that the arrangements currently in place on the beach would remain for now and would be re-visited by the Climate Action and Environment SPX in March 2021.”