THE arrival of Travellers illegally parked in the village of Sallins is causing a major problem for local residents. Up to 10 caravans are parked at three different locations in the village. “This is a major issue for residents in the area, particularly those residents who are living in the Millbank estate,” said local activist and election candidate James Lawless.

“Caravans came to the area intermittently last summer and they have now taken up residence in the area again. There are serious antisocial behaviour issues such as the playing of music, noise from generators and animals roaming loose in the area. The council say they can’t do a lot because it is private land. I would urge the various state organisations to move them on and sort this issue out. It doesn’t matter who these people are, antisocial behaviour is antisocial behaviour whether you are a member of an ethnic minority group or not. Nobody is allowed to simply pull up at an area, park up and cause antisocial problems for people living in any area.”

The owner of land on which some of the caravans are parked said he is ready and waiting to secure the site if the gardaí can move the Travellers on.

Mr Anthony Neville of Wexford based Anthony Neville Homes Limited told the Kildare Nationalist that he wants to have the issue resolved as soon as possible.

“The caravans are set up in two areas that are owned by us. The first area is directly across from the crèche. There are five or six caravans there. There is also one caravan at the back of Lidl but this caravan seems to be isolated with no vehicles coming or going to it and there doesn’t seem to be anyone in it. I had been unsuccessful in my efforts to bring the issue to the attention of gardaí until last Thursday. When I was on site last Thursday morning I again called the gardaí and they sent out a patrol car. I spoke with a garda and he said he was going off to speak with the families involved but as of now (Monday morning) I haven’t heard anything from him.”

Mr Neville said he was ready and anxious to close up the site. “We are working at a site in Saggart in Dublin so once we get the go ahead from the gardaí we could move in fairly quickly and secure the site. We plan to build embankments to stop those with caravans from accessing the site.”

There are a further three caravams parked on wasteland across from St Brigid’s Terrace.