Beach access charge takings jumped to €43,000 in 2010

Meath County Council takings from beach access charges amounted to €43,000 in 2010, a meeting of the Slane Electoral Area Committee of Meath County Council in Duleek heard last week. The council had collected between €15,000-€16,000 the previous year, Cllr Sirena Campbell was told by officials. Council engineer Jim Colwell said that people had commented on the fact that the beach was well-managed and cleaned. Official Paul Monahan told councillors that the money collected does not meet the full cost of providing facilities at the beach - a further €40,000-€50,000 had to be provided from council funds. When Cllr Jimmy Cudden queried the need to increase access charges from €2 to €2.50 and said that this was an unfair burden on elderly people who might drive to the beach once a day, area manager Fiona Lawless said the council had to pay VAT and this was a charge that could not be absorbed by it. Cllr Cudden had sought an exemption from the charge for senior citizens. Mr Colwell said that, on very busy days, it was essential to have a council employee at the barrier so that cars could be taken quickly off the public road. Mr Monahan said that the council wanted people to respect the beach. “It costs thousands each year to clean it,†he said. The area members were told that the biggest litter problems arose at night when people were using the beach. A big clean-up had to take place every morning, he added. A new playground at the Battle of the Boyne site at Oldbridge should provide play facilities for children from over a wide area, Cllr Wayne Harding told the meeting. The Fianna Fail councillor said the facilities would be provided on a 1.5-acre site within the battle site complex. In reply to Cllr Eoin Holmes, council official Paul Monahan said that work was going on in preparing the Brú na Bóinne framework plan. Cllr Holmes also raised the need for a traffic-calming plan for Duleek, and for public lighting in Clonalvy. Cllr Harding and Cllr Seamus O'Neill raised questions about the safety of barrier systems adjacent to the small bridge over the Boyne canal at the Battle of the Boyne site. Cllr Jimmy Cudden asked officials to attend to a 'stop' sign at Commons Estate which, he said, had been damaged by a vehicle striking it. Council engineer Jim Colwell said he would investigate a suspected sewerage blockage at Abbeylands in Duleek. He told fellow councillors that a committee had been set up in Donore village to campaign for a footpath from the village to the Bru na Boinne interpretive centre. He said the road leading to the centre was narrow and twisting. He realised that the work could not be done overnight but said that the OPW should make a start on it. “I agree with this campaign and I'm sure you are going to hear more about it in the next few weeks,†he said. He also condemned as “unacceptable†the practice adopted by some people of bringing their dogs into the Good Shepherd Cemetery and allowing them to foul the area. The Duleek cllr said that, two years ago, money had been put aside from the estimates to allow for a survey on the need for a bypass of Duleek. Nothing had happened since, he said. He has sought a report from officials for the next meeting.