Limerick Council seeks company to keep records on halting sites

LIMERICK City and County Council is currently seeking a third-party company to keep “detailed” written records of all activities on halting sites in the metro area as part of €2million project. 

The detail is included in a current request for tender that will see significant repairs and caretaking works undertaken at eight Traveller specific sites, including Toppins Field, Clondrinagh and on the Childer’s Road. 

LCCC also expects this company to “prevent” unauthorised people from accessing the sites, submit detailed written reports of any anti-social behaviour and assist the Council when identifying tenants who comment any offences or breach litter by-laws. 

“Limerick City and County Council has very good and open relationships with the Travelling Community and there is constant engagement between the two,” a LCCC spokesperson said. 

When asked if the families living in these sites had been consulted prior to this request for tender, the spokesperson said: “All work plans will be discussed in detail once the winning tender has been chosen.”

As part of works for 2019, LCCC plans to invest €4.8 million in sites across Limerick, he added. 

According to the tender documents seen by the Limerick Leader, the successful company is expected to control the entrance barriers to each facility to “ensure authorised entry and exit only.” 

The company is also expected to “prevent access” to the sites by any unauthorised person and liaise with gardaí, the tender document states. 

The company is also expected to work with the Council to make sure that all tenants are following relevant waste management acts and by-laws, including the control of horses. 

The company will also be expected to attend court “as necessary in connection with any prosecutions instituted by Limerick City County Council”, the document states. 

The successful company will also provide a 24-hour emergency caretaking callout service seven days a week, and will be responsible for maintaining facilities in a tidy manner.

This includes power washing footpaths and yards, and organising pest control services as required. 

This also includes the transport of general rubbish for disposal, with costs to be passed onto LCCC. 

The contract of a  maintenance plan currently running with the capital programme will end shortly, a spokesperson for LCCC said. “As with all public sector projects, the contract for the provision of maintenance services must now be put to tender and this has been done through the eTenders portal.” 

“As a matter of course, Limerick City and County Council always seeks to enhance service provision in all of its tenders in order to procure the most economically advantageous tender for the council.”