A ROTTING chip van at a layby between Bandon and Innishannon which had previously been described as an ‘eyesore’ in the area was suddenly removed on Friday August 19th.
The Southern Star recently highlighted the ongoing saga with the chip van in the lay-by, which is known locally as ‘chip van corner.’ A Council spokesperson said at the time that the land in question was under private ownership and undertook to identify the owner and contact them.
However, a spokesperson confirmed to The Southern Star this week that they are ‘not aware of who removed the old chip can or when it was removed.’
Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard said he is delighted that the chip van has been finally removed as it has been a blight on the landscape of Bandon and Innishannon for over a decade.
He said he had been campaigning since his days as a county councillor to get it removed.
‘It’s fantastic that this has been removed and it will really make a difference. It’s a beautiful, idyllic clean site next to the Bandon River and I’d love to see something decent being done with it and this is where groups like Innishannon Tidy Towns can come into the fore,’ he told The Southern Star.
‘The site has been cleaned up and it looks promising now after a decade of it being overgrown.’
While acknowledging that it’s a dangerous corner on the N71 he hopes that something can come to fruition with the lay-by.
‘The reaction locally to its removal has been overwhelmingly positive too and I hope we can have a real conversation about what to do here now.’
The chip van had been on private land at the lay-by but was moved to the public section of that lay-by last year by tidy town volunteers.
A spokesperson for Cork County Council did confirm that due to health and safety concerns regarding sightlines they are trimming and cutting back the undergrowth and scraping away material which will improve sightlines for traffic.
