Lack of motorhome facilities hitting Wexford tourism hard
THE lack of facilities for visiting motorhome owners in Co Wexford is causing our local economy to miss out on thousands of Euro in additional income every summer.
That’s according to Liam Fortune, a motorhome owner from Kilanerin who has travelled across Europe for the past 11 years.
‘Before the pandemic I’d go to Spain, France or Italy for two months during the summer, and they have endless facilities free of charge,’ Liam says. ‘You go to any village and there’s somewhere to park, to dump your waste and refill the water tank. They realise that once people come into town and park up they will go to local pubs and restaurants and spend money.’
In contrast, when motorhome owners from the continent come to Wexford they are, according to Liam, ‘shocked at the lack of facilities available to them’.
However, this year, once again, will be the year of the staycation, and those coming to Wexford will do so from other parts of the country, many of them in motorhomes.
‘I predict it will bedlam again this year, so many people are going to be travelling here,’ Liam says. ‘At the moment you can throw a mattress in the back of a Ford Transit and sell it as a motorhome, anything with wheels is being classed as one.’
Frustrated by the council’s lack of action, by the lack of facilities in the county, in 2018 Liam drove to Carricklawn on the morning of a county council meeting and invited local councillors to come inside his motorhome. He wanted to show them its inner workings, how easy it would be to set up parking spaces and facilities for visiting tourists.
He says that only one councillor, Anthony Connick, came to take a look inside.
‘All motorhome owners need is somewhere to park for the night, a tap to refill their tanks, and a drain connected to a sewer to dispose of their waste, a station known as an Aire,’ he explains.
‘ There are Aires in every village and town across Europe, they’re just parking areas with taps and drains. The council are talking about electricity and service points at each bay, which is a total waste of money, it would cost more money to buy it and maintain it than they’d make from it.
‘You don’t need planning permission to allow people to park for the night, to put a tap into a wall for them to get water. We’re over complicating things here; all you need is a flat piece of ground where a motorhome can park.’
With time at a premium and the summer months closing in fast, Liam says there is still time to implement temporary measures to deal with the expected influx of motorhomes.
‘Some years ago Cavan County Council announced motorhomes were welcome to park overnight in any of the council carparks, that’s what they could do here. You don’t need planning or anything like that,’ he says.
‘ This is a vast tourism opportunity and we’re not doing enough to tap into it. Cork and the rest of the country are miles ahead of us. I’ve been around the rest of the country and we’re in the dark ages with regards to motorhomes here.’
‘We’ve nothing in Wexford. It’s not an expensive job. Cork have them in Bandon, Middleton, Carrigaline, they’re leading the country, and we should be with the ferry port there in Rosslare.’ And again Liam points to the benefit for local businesses, pubs and restaurants which have been through the mill for the past 13 months.
‘It doesn’t cost anything to set the ball rolling, I suggested to the council that with Ferrybank they put a charge of €5 to park there,’ he says. ‘ The vast majority of Aires on the continent are close to the town centre you want them within walking distance of pubs and restaurants. Wexford has a brilliant opportunity with Canary Wharf they could put in an area there, putting access to a sewer can be done for less than €100.’
As it is, motorhome owners will either be forced to pay up to €25 to park in caravan park or, as Liam predicts, take their business elsewhere. ‘ The vast majority of motorhome owners, if they see a place is chock-a-block, they’ll move on.’
In the meantime, Liam says that, as soon as restrictions ease, he’ll be heading straight to Cork to avail of its services, services currently unavailable in Wexford.