Tipperary council under fire for issuing litter fines to auctioneers over For Sale signs

A Clonmel councillor has condemned Tipperary County Council for slapping €150 littering fines on a number of his auctioneering colleagues for signs advertising customers’ properties for sale or sale agreed.

Cllr John Fitzgerald vented his anger and annoyance at the littering fines issued in the past week to fellow auctioneers and estate agents in the county at Monday’s meeting of Tipperary County Council in Nenagh.

The Fine Gael councillor, who is co-proprietor of Dougan Fitzgerald Estate Agents in Clonmel, complained that a “whole clatter” of fines in relation to For Sale signs were sent out by the council in the last few days.

He pointed out that the last time the council contacted auctioneers about these signs was seven years ago.

“I take umbrage at For Sale signs being referred to as littering,” he declared.

“I accept they have to be regulated in terms of the length of time (they are erected) but there have been €150 fine slapped across the sector on rate payers.

“These people are paying their rates for their offices and are being told they are littering the same as someone I came across who threw confetti on the street in Clonmel.

“How can you compare it to those.”

Cllr Fitzgerald argued that For Sale signs were simply auctioneers engaging in commerce, not littering and the council was interfering with their business sector. The signs were “tools of their trade” with 99.9% of auctioneers using a fully ensured contractor called Countrywide Signs to erect them on the margins of properties such as walls and fences.

He disagreed with the argument that Sale Agreed signs should be taken down as the sale may not be finalised and the property could have to revert to being For Sale again.

The Clonmel Borough councillor said he believed auctioneers were “sitting ducks” and “soft targets”.
It was very unfair and he was very annoyed about it. He predicted that the cost of the fines will end up being passed onto auctioneers’ clients.

Tipperary County Council CEO Joe MacGrath responded that he was not in a position to answer Cllr Fitzgerald at the meeting as he didn’t receive any prior notice about the issue he had raised.

He promised, however, to discuss it with the Director of Environment & Climate Action Services and ensure the Director engaged with Cllr Fitzgerald.

Fellow Clonmel Cllr Pat English of the Workers & Unemployment Action Group said he noticed a lot of these auctioneers signs erected on roundabouts and on poles some distance away from where the properties for sale were located.

Mr MacGrath interjected when Cllr Fitzgerald attempted to object to this statement.

The Council CEO reiterated that he wanted to establish the facts and asked that the issue be addressed in the council’s next management report.