This article is from page 27 of the 2007-10-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
RESIDENTS living close to a dan- gerous bend in Kilmurry are infuri- ated that Clare County Council is not making funds available for the provi- sion of footpaths in the locality.
At an area meeting of Clare County Council last week, Cllr John Crowe suggested that footpaths in Kilmurry eTom KALA Le0 8
Executive Engineer with the coun- cil, Michael Healy’s response was simple. He pointed out that the funds were not available. “At present, Clare County Council is not in a position to provide additional footpaths in Kil- murry village,” he said.
He pointed out that his estimate for providing 330 metres of a two-me-
tre wide footpath between Neenan’s grocery shop and the entrance to the housing estate on the regional R462 would be almost €70,000.
The estimated cost of a footpath, with associated lighting along the Kilmurry to Enagh road, would be €53,750.
‘The only finance available to con- struct footpaths in Kilmurry is un- der the Discretionary Improvement Grant. In 2007, the total allocation for maintenance and provision of footpaths under this grant for the whole of the Shannon electoral area was €55,000. This money is being spent in heavily populated areas such as Shannon, Sixmilebridge and New- market-on-Fergus, where the need is greatest. Iam unable to provide foot-
paths in Kilmurry because the funds are simply unavailable.”
He went on to say that the “limited” funds available to him for footpaths will go towards Shannon, Newmar- ket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge, for the foreseeable future.
Local resident, Mairead Guest, who lives close to a notoriously danger- ous bend on the road, is angered by what she says is the council’s neglect of Kilmurry.
“Tam very annoyed. We are forgot- ten about. How come it is going to cost €100,000 to put footpaths in place?
“We were hoping for something. We organised a petition last year, but still nothing is being done. It will just take somebody to be killed be-
fore they do anything.
“When they are collecting money, we are included in the Sixmilebridge area, but when there is money being spent, we are always left out,’ said Ms Guest.
A year ago, Ms Guest expressed her concerns about the dangers of a bend, close to her home.
While the council has put danger signs in place, she remains unhappy with the situation.
“Signs were put up and already one has been damaged. We still hear the screeches of brakes there at night. The road has been widened coming up to my house and that has made everything faster coming into the bend. It is worse than it had been previously,” she said.