New Ross Access Officer Defended By The Council After Disabled Spaces Controversy

The Deputy Chief Executive of Wexford County Council has defended the Access Officer in New Ross after recent comments in the media. 

At the previous Municipal District meeting, Councillors John Dwyer and Michael Sheehan both expressed frustration at the lack of disabled parking spaces available at Bullawn with Councillor Dwyer saying the access officer was refusing "point blank" to allocate them. 

Director of Services Eamon Hore described the officer as "upset" at this suggestion saying it's clearly not the case as New Ross was very well served with blue badge spaces. 

It had also been claimed the responsibility for allocating the spaces came down solely to the access officer which Mr Hore disagreed with saying the number of blue badge spaces was a matter for the roads section of each municipal district 

Mr Hore put on record his support for the access officer who had been centrally involved in 17 funded projects in the new Ross district over the last 5 years. 

In relation to the specific spaces at Bullawn, Mr Hore said council has now provided a yellow hatched area directly in front of the house at the centre of the problem to restrict other cars from parking there. 

Councillor Dwyer responded to the comments saying he believed the officer should be more open to receiving comments on their performance and it was agreed to discuss the matter further at the next district meeting. 

Councillor Sheehan said he was shocked by the "blindside" from Mr Hore and said the access officer should agree to meet with the family of the homeowner involved to explain why they can't have the access spot.

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.