PART IV.

Temporary Dwellings and Use of Land for Camping.

30. —(1) A sanitary authority may make bye-laws regulating the use of temporary dwellings in their sanitary district and the bye-laws may, in particular, provide for all or any of the matters mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act.

(2) Bye-laws under this section may make provision in respect of the use in coastal waters adjoining a sanitary district of vessels which are used primarily for human habitation as if the coastal waters were inland waters in the sanitary district.

(3) Where any coastal waters adjoin two or more sanitary districts, the Minister may by order provide that, for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, the whole or a specified part of the coastal waters shall be regarded as adjoining any one of the sanitary districts and no other, and the said subsection (2) shall have effect accordingly.

31. —(1) A sanitary authority may by order prohibit the erection or retention of temporary dwellings on any land or water in their sanitary district if they are of opinion that such erection or retention would be prejudicial to public health or the amenities of the locality or would interfere to an unreasonable extent with traffic on any road.

(2) A prohibition under this section may relate either to specified land or water or all land or water of a specified class and, in particular, may relate to all land or water within a specified distance of the centre line of any road or a specified road.

(3) Where a person is aggrieved by an order under this section—

(a) such person may, within fourteen days after a copy of the order is published pursuant to subsection (9) of this section, send to the Minister an application in writing (which shall include a statement of the reasons therefor) for the annulment of the order,

(b) the Minister, after consideration of the application and such representations in regard thereto as the sanitary authority concerned may think fit to make, may either annul the order, confirm the order without variation or confirm the order with variations by way of reduction of the land or water to which it relates.

(4) A person who erects or retains a temporary dwelling in contravention of an order in force under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding five pounds for each day on which the offence is continued.

(5) Where a person is convicted on a second or subsequent occasion of an offence under this section in relation to the same temporary dwelling, the Court may, in addition to or in lieu of imposing a fine, order the forfeiture of the temporary dwelling to the sanitary authority concerned and thereupon that authority may take possession of the temporary dwelling and dispose of it by sale, destruction or otherwise as they think fit.

(6) A prohibition under this section may be made in respect of the retention in coastal waters adjoining a sanitary district of vessels which are used primarily for human habitation as if the coastal waters were inland waters in the sanitary district.

(7) Where any coastal waters adjoin two or more sanitary districts, the Minister may by order provide that, for the purposes of subsection (6) of this section, the whole or a specified part of the coastal waters shall be regarded as adjoining any one of the sanitary districts and no other, and the said subsection (6) shall have effect accordingly.

(8) An order under this section shall come into force—

(a) if no application is made for the annulment of the order—thirty days after a copy of the order is published pursuant to subsection (9) of this section, and

(b) if an application is made for the annulment of the order and the order is not annulled thereon—fourteen days after the determination of the application.

(9) Where a sanitary authority make an order under this section, they shall, within fourteen days after the order is made, cause to be published, in a daily newspaper circulating in their sanitary district, a copy of the order and a statement of the right conferred by this section to apply for the annulment of the order.

(10) Where an order under this section has come into force, the sanitary authority who made the order shall, within fourteen days after the order has come into force, cause to be published, in a daily newspaper circulating in their sanitary district, a copy of the order (as made by the sanitary authority or as confirmed by the Minister, whichever is appropriate) and a statement that it has come into force.

32. —(1) If a temporary dwelling is in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious to health or if the use of a temporary dwelling, whether by reason of the absence of proper sanitary conveniences, overcrowding or other cause, gives rise to a nuisance or conditions injurious to health, the temporary dwelling shall be deemed to be a nuisance within the meaning of section 107 of the Act of 1878 and the provisions of that Act relating to nuisances shall apply accordingly and for that purpose the person in charge of the temporary dwelling shall be regarded as the occupier thereof.

(2) Where a temporary dwelling is deemed pursuant to this section to be a nuisance, a notice requiring the abatement of the nuisance may, without prejudice to the liability of the person in charge of the dwelling, be served under section 110 of the Act of 1878 on the occupier of the site of the temporary dwelling and proceedings for the abatement of the nuisance may be taken against such occupier.

33. —(1) The powers of a court before which proceedings are brought in respect of—

(a) a nuisance in relation to a temporary dwelling, or

(b) a contravention in relation to a temporary dwelling or vessel in coastal waters of a bye-law made under this Part of this Act,

shall include power to make an order prohibiting or restricting the erection or retention of the temporary dwelling or vessel at such places or within such area as may be specified in the order.

(2) A person who contravenes an order made by virtue of this section, or who, being the occupier of land, permits such a contravention to take place on that land, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding two pounds for each day on which the offence is continued.

34. —(1) This section shall come into operation as provided by the orders made under subsection (2) of this section.

(2) The Minister may by order provide that this section shall come into operation in a specified sanitary district or part of a sanitary district on a specified day.

(3) An order under subsection (2) of this section shall be published by the sanitary authority for the sanitary district to the whole or part of which the order relates in such manner as the Minister directs.

(4) A sanitary authority may, if they so think fit, but subject to the provisions of subsection (5) of this section, grant to the occupier of land, being land within their sanitary district or the part thereof as respects which this section is in operation, or, with the consent of such occupier to a camping organisation a licence authorising the use during a specified period of twelve consecutive months of such land for camping.

(5) Before granting a licence under this section in relation to land situated within an area to which Part IV of the Tourist Traffic Act, 1939 (No. 24 of 1939) applies, a sanitary authority shall consult with the Irish Tourist Board.

(6) Where a licence is granted under this section by a sanitary authority in relation to land, the sanitary authority shall attach to the licence specified conditions with respect to all of the following matters:

(a) the maximum number of temporary dwellings to be kept on the land at the same time,

(b) the manner in which the land is to be laid out,

(c) the nature, external appearance and size of the temporary dwellings to be kept on the land,

(d) the space to be kept free between any two temporary dwellings on the land or between a temporary dwelling on the land and any other structure thereon,

(e) the distance to be maintained between any temporary dwelling on the land and any public road,

(f) water supply,

(g) sanitary conveniences,

(h) disposal of filth, refuse, litter or other débris,

(i) means of ingress, egress and internal communication,

(j) orderly and decent behaviour by the inhabitants of temporary dwellings on the land,

(k) the securing of healthy conditions and the preserving of amenities,

(l) the supervision of temporary dwellings on the land (including, where necessary in the opinion of the sanitary authority, the employment of a warden for that purpose),

(m) the keeping and production for inspection by officers of the sanitary authority granting the licence of records with respect to temporary dwellings on the land.

(7) A licence granted by a sanitary authority under this section shall come into force—

(a) if no objection to such grant has been made under subsection (8) of this section during fifteen days after such grant—at the expiration of the said fifteen days, and

(b) if an objection has been so made during the said fifteen days and such licence is not directed to be withdrawn—on the decision of such objection.

(8) Any person who is aggrieved by—

(a) the grant or refusal by a sanitary authority of a licence under this section, or

(b) a condition attached by a sanitary authority to a licence under this section

may object to such grant, refusal or condition by giving notice in that behalf to the Minister within fifteen days of the day on which notice was given by the sanitary authority to the applicant for the licence that the licence was granted or refused (as the case may be), and the notice shall be in writing and shall contain a statement of the grounds of such objection.

(9) Where a notice of objection in relation to a grant of or a refusal to grant a licence under this section or to a condition attached to any such licence is given under this section, the Minister, after consideration of the objection and after consultation with the sanitary authority concerned, shall either reject the objection or direct the sanitary authority (who shall comply with such direction) to withdraw the licence granted or to grant the licence refused or to vary in a specified manner the condition objected to (as may be appropriate).

(10) Subject to subsection (12) of this section, the occupier of land shall not use the land for camping, or permit it to be so used, on more than—

(a) eighteen consecutive days, or

(b) thirty-six days within a period of twelve consecutive months,

unless a licence is in force under this section relating to the land.

(11) Subject to subsection (12) of this section, the holder of a licence under this section shall comply with every condition attached to the licence.

(12) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or restrict the use of land for camping—

(a) if the land is agricultural land and the camping is carried on during the same seasons in each year by persons engaged in farming operations on the land, or

(b) if the land is occupied in connection with a permanent dwelling situate on or in the vicinity of such land, and the camping is carried on by no persons other than the occupier of the permanent dwelling and members of his household.

(13) A person who contravenes subsection (10) or (11) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding five pounds for each day on which the contravention is continued.

(14) For the purposes of this section, land (in this subsection referred to as the site) which is the site of a temporary dwelling and all land which is within one hundred yards of the site and of which the occupier is the occupier of the site shall be land used for camping.

(15) Subsection (14) of this section shall not be construed as preventing the keeping of a temporary dwelling on a site which is on land to which a licence under this section relates and which is within one hundred yards of any boundary of that land.

(16) For the purposes of this section—

(a) the owner of land which is not let shall be deemed to be the occupier thereof;

(b) if a temporary dwelling is removed from the site on which it stands, but within forty-eight hours is brought back to the same site or another site within one hundred yards thereof, then for the purpose of reckoning any such period of eighteen consecutive days as is mentioned in subsection (10) of this section, it shall be deemed not to have been removed;

(c) the expression “camping organisation” means an organisation recognised by the Minister as a camping organisation.