Landscaping works on the Lough Atalia Road, which cost more than €23,000, have been overtaken by weeds and grass, and a local councillor has condemned the costs and disrepair as “a waste of money”.
The Galway City Council carried out landscaping works on the open space between Forthill Cemetery and the Lough Atalia Bridge as part of the city’s preparations for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in 2009. The cost of the works was €23,540.
Independent city councillor Terry O’Flaherty said it was “staggering” that this “exorbitant” amount of money could be spent landscaping “a relatively small piece of land”.
She said that the entire strip is now in “dire need of maintenance” as it is filled with overgrown weeds and grass.
“It is nothing short of a disgrace that a substantial amount of taxpayers’ money was spent on this area,” she said, “which was very bad value for money at the time, and which is now going to cost further scarce resources to maintain into the future.”
Cllr O’Flaherty said she was advised by City Hall that due to the amount of landscaping - 1,820 plants/shrubs - in this area it would require very little maintenance.
The councillor is now calling on City Hall to “learn from its mistakes” by taking into account future maintenance costs. She also said that if the council is “not in position to keep this area maintained, perhaps it is time to consider contracting out this work or advertise for a sponsor willing to fund and maintain this space”.
