Seventeen fines for lake bye-law breaches issued by council

Seventeen fines were issued by Westmeath County Council this summer for breaches of the by-laws governing use of the lakes around Mullingar.

The information was provided to Cllr Julie McCourt at the September meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar, Kinnegad. The Sinn Féin woman had asked how many enforcement of lakeshore by-law fines were issued over the summer months.

She also enquired how often the by-laws come before the members for updating.

The response from the District Executive stated that over the summer, seven fines had been issued for camping, two at Tullaghan, Lough Owel and five at Ladestown, Lough Ennell. In addition, ten fires were issued for burning, one at Lough Lene, two at Tudenham, Lough Ennell and seven at Ladestown, Lough Ennell.

The response went on to state that the lakeshore by-laws were adopted by the district members in April 2012 and can be amended at the members' discretion.

Cllr McCourt was surprised to see there was no record of fines being issued for rubbish being dumped or dog fouling or dogs being allowed off leashes. She also was surprised to learn that the by-laws had not been updated since 2012 and asked if members could be given the opportunity to look at updating the laws.

Director of Services Deirdre Reilly replied that this could be done.