Life in Mornington, Laytown and Bettystown, Slane, Duleek and Julianstown |
ACCESS onto Bettystown beach remains a key issue as planners seek to complete the Beach Management Plan for the coastal area.
Submissions to the revised plan are open until October 12 with council officials telling the area council meeting that traffic management around the entrance to Bettystown beach is provoking discussion.
A barrier had been suggested at one stage in respect of access control after complaints about late night driving on the beach. Some locals argue that restricting access would mainly impact on locals who have nowhere else to park and go for walk. Gardai were against controls while other emergemcy services were ‘ok with it’.
The council were lookimg at the phased removal of parking with the establishment of other parking areas.
Foreshore bylaws would also have to be changed to look at animals using the area.
That would include no horses in the sand dunes in Mornington or the shoreline between September and March, except for the races.
Dogs would also have to be on a lead between Sept-March in the Nanny estuary. Dogs are also to be banned in the area patrolled by the lifeguards.
Cllr Tom Kelly said dog fouling remained a big issue and he wanted to see more signs erected. ‘ Dogs should be on a leash at all times’, he added. He also raised concerns about Sulky racing and people using drones. He also wants to see the annual sandcastle competition turned into a festival weekend.
Cllr Paddy Meade and Sharon Tolan agreed that horses looked well on the beach and hoped they could be accommodated.
For Cllr Sharon Keogan parking on the beach ‘makes Bettystown what it is’ and she feels some cars should be allowed use it.
The council said it was not the intention to ban horses but to regulate where and when they can use the beach and what access point is used.
They try and control drones under data protection.
Ultimately, a full time beach warden is planned to patrol the area, alomg with a litter warden.
It was also revealed that the council didn’t own the dunes and they would have to come up with a scheme accordingly.
Bettystown is also to be part of a Public Realm project, from an area at Tesco into the centre of Bettystown and on to Laytown. With the new Spine Road, it’s envisaged to make the Coast Road more of a ‘street’, encouraging cycling and pedestrians.
Area Manager Fiona Lawless said the vision would encorporate the likes of the Tara Brooch. ‘ We want to link everything up,’ she said. She said that ‘absolutely millions’ will be delivered for the project. ‘It’s good news. Before I came here, works were done in isolation and now we want to put it together.’
Cllr Sharon Tolan said she’d like to see the four areas, Laytown/Bettystown, Donacarney and Mornington linked. Paddy Meade said they were looking at €2m up in funding and it was a great prospect. Cllr Eimear Ferguson wanted to know what would happen in the area around the Last Straw pub.
The lack of footpaths outside estates was something that left Stephen McKee angry.
‘It is a big urban area, but we need a link from Donacarney school to Bettystown. Some estates have no footpaths, they are prisoners. Even St Colmcilles to Bettystown does not have a path. We need an overall plan for the area,’ he urged.
Cllr Wayne Harding said they were ‘retro fitting’ as estate after estate was built and ‘nothing else’ but the plan was great.