Lack of facilities for touring tourists in Kerry

nice_guy80

I've just returned from a touring holiday of Kerry

Few glaring issues

- no toilets. There are no public toilets at any of the scenic stops along the Dingle peninsula or ring of Kerry. We encountered numerous people 'wild camping' along the way. Where are these people going to the toilet?? We spotted loads of locations where soiled toilet paper had been discarded
- no bins. Are Kerry Co Council trying to promote littering? Towns in Kerry don't seem to have bins - no bins outside so many shops.
- picnic benches. There are none. None to be found. Surely towns and villages with shops should get picnic benches built and people might spend money in the shops
- lay bys. not enough of them to allow cars to pull over to take a few photos. abandoning cars on the side of the road isn't good enough
- marked paths. in many places the flora is being eroded by people talking multiple paths to a viewpoint eg Dunquin. Would be easily solved with a carpark and marked path, preventing people going off anywhere they want

BPKS

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I've just returned from a touring holiday of Kerry

Few glaring issues

- no toilets. There are no public toilets at any of the scenic stops along the Dingle peninsula or ring of Kerry. We encountered numerous people 'wild camping' along the way. Where are these people going to the toilet?? We spotted loads of locations where soiled toilet paper had been discarded
- no bins. Are Kerry Co Council trying to promote littering? Towns in Kerry don't seem to have bins - no bins outside so many shops.
- picnic benches. There are none. None to be found. Surely towns and villages with shops should get picnic benches built and people might spend money in the shops
- lay bys. not enough of them to allow cars to pull over to take a few photos. abandoning cars on the side of the road isn't good enough
- marked paths. in many places the flora is being eroded by people talking multiple paths to a viewpoint eg Dunquin. Would be easily solved with a carpark and marked path, preventing people going off anywhere they want

Great to see you enjoyed you trip to our beautiful county.

nice_guy80

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I've just returned from a touring holiday of Kerry

Few glaring issues

- no toilets. There are no public toilets at any of the scenic stops along the Dingle peninsula or ring of Kerry. We encountered numerous people 'wild camping' along the way. Where are these people going to the toilet?? We spotted loads of locations where soiled toilet paper had been discarded

No idea where campers poop, but I for one would not really want toilets at scenic spots, I'd prefer that they be in local towns, petrol stations etc. When I think of some place like the top of the Connor Pass or Coomakista, I don't want public toilets lumped in there, Dingle and Waterville are only a few minutes drive from either.

Agree with some of the other points though.

delahuntv

Public toilets at Ballinskelligs
Public Toilets in Portmagee
Public toilets in Waterville
Public Toilets in Sneem
Public Toilets in Killarney
and in Killorglin, Kells beach, Rossbeigh, Knightstown, (valentia) & Kenmare.

From experience the Ballinskelligs, Portmagee, Waterville and Kinghtstown are very well kept.

Furthermore, most pubs understand that its tourists that provide their income and allow use of their facilities - obviously they'd like you to buy something too, but a polite ask as I do sometimes always elicits a positive response.

litter - plenty of public bins for small amounts of litter, but as goes for most other countries, larger bags of litter should be taken with you and disposed at where you are staying. I always notice bins outside the newsagent type shops and also in nay petrol station I have visited.

The other thing I think is excellent is the provision of dog poop bags and bin at many of the beaches - quite a large number of dogs are walked on the beaches and there's very little dog fouling to be seen (unfortunately there's always one or two feckers to spoil it)

amdaley28

Kerry Co Council are too busy picking up bags of rubbish dumped out car windows.
Take your rubbish home with you as I would do if I were visiting your Town or City.
Most shops & petrol stations provide small bins for rubbish.
They are not provided for people to dump their weekly thrash.

I agree there is a lack of public toilets in this country.There are some but they could be more but not at every crossroad.
They should be provided by the local councils with a small charge for their upkeep.
I suppose then people would complain about having to pay for them.

nice_guy80

Well, if you are directing thousands of touring tourists down the Wild Atlantic Way, you need facilities

I have toured Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand and the facilities for touring cars/campervans/cyclists are far superior.
eg the authorities in NZ impose a small levy on all hired vehicles which goes to the upkeep of facilities.

There will be a huge issue with wild camping within 5 years. With cyclists, hikers, car hire groups and motorhomes with no toilets stopping overnight in scenic spots and leaving human waste behind them.

And yes, the county looked beautiful last week

amdaley28

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Well, if you are directing thousands of touring tourists down the Wild Atlantic Way, you need facilities

I have toured Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand and the facilities for touring cars/campervans/cyclists are far superior.
eg the authorities in NZ impose a small levy on all hired vehicles which goes to the upkeep of facilities.

There will be a huge issue with wild camping within 5 years. With cyclists, hikers, car hire groups and motorhomes with no toilets stopping overnight in scenic spots and leaving human waste behind them.

And yes, the county looked beautiful last week

I would agree with you but it must be paid for.
Build the facilities & have them manned like in a lot of places around the world.
A charge is collected by a person employed to run the facility.
Iv'e been to many countries in the world where public facilities are available.
You pay a charge as you go in to use the toilet or to dump rubbish or whatever.
I remember a toilet in a town in the old Yugoslavia many years ago where you paid whatever the fee was & you got two sheets of toilet paper into the bargain

However you will always get people who won't pay & dump their rubbish on the side of the road instead and they're not all tourists either :mad:

nice_guy80

amdaley28 wrote: »

I would agree with you but it must be paid for.
Build the facilities & have them manned like in a lot of places around the world.
A charge is collected by a person employed to run the facility.
Iv'e been to many countries in the world where public facilities are available.
You pay a charge as you go in to use the toilet or to dump rubbish or whatever.
I remember a toilet in a town in the old Yugoslavia many years ago where you paid whatever the fee was & you got two sheets of toilet paper into the bargain

However you will always get people who won't pay & dump their rubbish on the side of the road instead and they're not all tourists either :mad:

Charging at each facility is not feasible.
You don't need flushing toilets.
In many parts of Canada they have pit toilets with hand sanitizer. they work perfectly fine and don't need running water.

kerry4sam

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I've just returned from a touring holiday of Kerry

Few glaring issues

- no toilets. There are no public toilets at any of the scenic stops along the Dingle peninsula or ring of Kerry. We encountered numerous people 'wild camping' along the way. Where are these people going to the toilet?? We spotted loads of locations where soiled toilet paper had been discarded
- no bins. Are Kerry Co Council trying to promote littering? Towns in Kerry don't seem to have bins - no bins outside so many shops.
- picnic benches. There are none. None to be found. Surely towns and villages with shops should get picnic benches built and people might spend money in the shops
- lay bys. not enough of them to allow cars to pull over to take a few photos. abandoning cars on the side of the road isn't good enough
- marked paths. in many places the flora is being eroded by people talking multiple paths to a viewpoint eg Dunquin. Would be easily solved with a carpark and marked path, preventing people going off anywhere they want

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Well, if you are directing thousands of touring tourists down the Wild Atlantic Way, you need facilities

I have toured Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand and the facilities for touring cars/campervans/cyclists are far superior.
eg the authorities in NZ impose a small levy on all hired vehicles which goes to the upkeep of facilities.

There will be a huge issue with wild camping within 5 years. With cyclists, hikers, car hire groups and motorhomes with no toilets stopping overnight in scenic spots and leaving human waste behind them.

And yes, the county looked beautiful last week

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Charging at each facility is not feasible.
You don't need flushing toilets.
In many parts of Canada they have pit toilets with hand sanitizer. they work perfectly fine and don't need running water.

Hi there,

Thanking you for providing the feedback that you have provided. All valid and all useful points.
I will direct you to our Kerry County Council contact listing here ; locate where you feel the info is best directed and contact them directly.

Hopefully you will receive helpful replies,
kerry4sam

_Brian

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I've just returned from a touring holiday of Kerry

Few glaring issues

- no toilets. There are no public toilets at any of the scenic stops along the Dingle peninsula or ring of Kerry. We encountered numerous people 'wild camping' along the way. Where are these people going to the toilet?? We spotted loads of locations where soiled toilet paper had been discarded
- no bins. Are Kerry Co Council trying to promote littering? Towns in Kerry don't seem to have bins - no bins outside so many shops.
- picnic benches. There are none. None to be found. Surely towns and villages with shops should get picnic benches built and people might spend money in the shops
- lay bys. not enough of them to allow cars to pull over to take a few photos. abandoning cars on the side of the road isn't good enough
- marked paths. in many places the flora is being eroded by people talking multiple paths to a viewpoint eg Dunquin. Would be easily solved with a carpark and marked path, preventing people going off anywhere they want

We travelled for a week in Kerry earlier on the year.
No problems with toilets and we have a 6 & 11 year old girls with us.

Regarding bins there is a big push to get people to brig their rubbish home wih them. We've no problem with this and ensure to teach our kids to be responsible and not expect others to clean or empty bins after them.

Picnic tables ?? Neither noticed te not the lack of them.

TBH it sounds like you had your grumpy face on in Kerry which is a pity as it was a wonderful week for us.

nice_guy80

_Brian wrote: »

We travelled for a week in Kerry earlier on the year.
No problems with toilets and we have a 6 & 11 year old girls with us.

Regarding bins there is a big push to get people to brig their rubbish home wih them. We've no problem with this and ensure to teach our kids to be responsible and not expect others to clean or empty bins after them.

Picnic tables ?? Neither noticed te not the lack of them.

TBH it sounds like you had your grumpy face on in Kerry which is a pity as it was a wonderful week for us.

Well, maybe I was just comparing to what i had become used to abroad, as in basic facilities.

It is hard to bring your rubbish home with you when you are on holiday for a week.

It's nice to be able to sit a picnic table and eat lunch while admiring the view. Rather than sitting in the car, parked somewhere to avoid passing traffic.