Travellers backyard burning

hiddenmongoose

Not sure if this is the right place but I need advice
.I live in a quiet rural area in Roscommon but there is travellers in social housing provided by the council half a kilometer from my house.The travellers burn all their household waste every week in the backyard(along with lots of other rubbish,couches,presses,timber ,plastic you name it !)the smoke and fumes and rubbish blows across the fields into my house.
I have complained to the county council enviromental section about a dozen times,spoken to the traveller housing officer, and reported them twice to the epa.They now only burn at the weekends or outside office hours so that if you ring to complain nobody will come out!
I have rang the Gardai and been sympathetically informed that its not a garda issue and they cant do anything about it.These travellers are not nice people to deal with,a couple of years ago one of them was caught and arrested for trying to break into a local womans house who lived on her own in her 80's.
I am sick of dealing with the smell and smoke but nobody seems to want to put a stop to them.If I burnt rubbish in my backyard I would be fined within the week im sure.
Where do I go from here?

punisher5112

The Gardai are in no way going to deal with them as they are afraid too.

Keep at the council and gardai as burning rubbish like that is illegal and is a Garda matter as laws are being broken.


We had the same where I live for years where they had a halting site and had burnt all but 1 of the houses provided by the tax payer.

They have calmed down a little but have burnt a house twice which were newly built and another was lying up and has being gutted and roof destroyed.

Keep at them about including td's

Sam Kade

I can't see this thread lasting long

hiddenmongoose

Sam Kade wrote: »

I can't see this thread lasting long

Why? I am asking for honest advice,just because it involves travellers?
.I had never thought of contacting TDs.I will do that thiss week

punisher5112

Sam Kade wrote: »

I can't see this thread lasting long

Care to explain the op has a genuine concern that needs sorting.

Why in gods name are all these groups and whatevers getting so much protection.

If I done have the going ons I would be left with huge fines and be in prison.

Markcheese

Okay - few small pieces of advice -
Keep a log of the incidents - (if other neighbours are still being affected get them to keep logs too ) if you can record anything like wind direction/ weather - smoke ,smells ect . E-mail these to EPA and council - local Tds ect ect - but get an out of hours number to ring the council on
The other is drop the word traveller from your complaints / stories ect . They're neighbours,a pain in the ass but neighbours ,no more no less .

hiddenmongoose

Markcheese wrote: »

Okay - few small pieces of advice -
Keep a log of the incidents - (if other neighbours are still being affected get them to keep logs too ) if you can record anything like wind direction/ weather - smoke ,smells ect . E-mail these to EPA and council - local Tds ect ect - but get an out of hours number to ring the council on
The other is drop the word traveller from your complaints / stories ect . They're neighbours,a pain in the ass but neighbours ,no more no less .

Good advice, but they are travellers, no other neighbours in the rural area have couches around a bonfire everyweek or a caravan at the side of the house or clothes drying on barbed wire fences across the road ,cars with no backwindows and glass everywhere,simple fact that I am facing is that if they werent travellers they would have been fined by now.So why should I stop including the word travellers?
The farmer that owns the two fields between us has given up reporting them, he is sick of the debris of burnt plastic blowing into his fields and cattle eating them.The local authorities just dont want to deal with it.

Severard

Well considering that they are breaking the law [1] one would think that it is the responsibility of the Gardai. Get in contact with your other neighbours as the more people there are raising their concerns about it, the more likely the Gardai/local authorities will actually do something about it.

Maybe you could also contact your local newspaper and highlight the fact that the Gardai/local authorities aren't doing anything on the issue. Having this on the front paper would be bound to stir them to action.

[1] http://www.epa.ie/waste/householder/burn/#.ViXsjX6rRhE

hiddenmongoose

Severard wrote: »

Well considering that they are breaking the law [1] one would think that it is the responsibility of the Gardai. Get in contact with your other neighbours as the more people there are raising their concerns about it, the more likely the Gardai/local authorities will actually do something about it.

Maybe you could also contact your local newspaper and highlight the fact that the Gardai/local authorities aren't doing anything on the issue. Having this on the front paper would be bound to stir them to action.

[1] http://www.epa.ie/waste/householder/burn/#.ViXsjX6rRhE

other neighbours are fearfull of reporting for fear of reprisals(one of the travellers has a sex offender conviction ,there is also a conviction for attempted burglary on an elderly woman) or are sick of reporting with nothing done about it.
Papers may also be a route to go but will probably be wary of running such a story

djpbarry

Definitely not the correct forum for traveller-bashing. Try www.politics.ie.