What were the councillors of the Ballina Municipal District talking about at their latest meeting?
Deere calls for cobble locking audit
Fine Gael councillor Ger Deere has called for an audit of the cobble locking on the streets around Castlebar. He told the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, that he had received calls from a number of people who had slipped on cobbles around the town and that the council needed to carry out an audit on it 'or they will be facing insurance claims'.
McDonnell calls for report on councils cyber security
Fianna Fáil Cllr Al McDonnell has requested that Mayo County Council provide a report to the next meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District in relation to the current status of the council's cyber security. He said after what has happened to the HSE, it is important that the councillors are updated regularly on the council's cyber security.
Balla crossing needs to be more visible
Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan has asked Mayo County Council to investigate if anything can be done to make the pedestrian crossing on Main Street, Balla, more visible on the approach to the street. She told the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District that the issue had been raised with her by a number of locals in the area requesting that drivers be made more aware of it, as they are coming into the village.
Deere calls for clampdown on dogs without muzzles
Fine Gael councillor Ger Derre has called for the council to clamp down on dogs - that should have muzzles on them - not having them in place. He told the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District that his own wife was recently out walking her dog around Lough Lannagh, when a German Shepard dog without a muzzles or on a lead, attacked her dog. He made an appeal to dog owners to do the right thing, but also for the dog wardens to be more vigilant on the issue. He was supported by Cllr Donna Sheridan, who suggested that the council look into having dog runs for smaller dogs and separate ones for bigger dogs - which are in place in other parks around the country.
Sheridan welcomes progress on footpaths
Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan has thanked the Castlebar Municipal District for the works being carried out on footpaths on the Westport road between Manor Village and Meadow Park. She told the May meeting of the district that it is great to see that work getting started and that hopefully, it will continue on the rest of the Westport road.
New cemetery car park needs to be cleaned up
Fine Gael councillor Ger Deere has described the entrance to the New Cemetery in Castlebar as "deplorable". Speaking at the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District this week, Cllr Deere said: "The entrance to the new cemetery at the car park, it is deplorable" and "There is rubble dumped down in the car park and it just looks tatty, it is not good enough for our elderly people and I highlighted this last year, it needs a tidy up and some long term thing."
Burke wants broadband update presentation
Fine Gael councillor Cyril Burke has requested that the council's broadband officer come to a meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, to give an update on broadband in the district. He said at the May meeting of the district: "Broadband is such a vital part of our infrastructure now for people working from home, and somewhere it is not available in the home, it might be available in the communities and community centres and people might have an opportunity to go to a local community centre to work from there for part of the day." He requested the broadband officer "come in to enlighten members on the roll-out of broadband" in the district.
Gavin wants rotting fencing replaced
Fianna Fáil councillor Blackie Gavin has called for repairs to be carried out to timber fencing near the bridge in Lough Lannagh. He told the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District that some of the fencing was going rotten there and needed to be looked at. Responding to Cllr Gavin, Senior Engineer for Mayo County Council, Anne Sweeney, said that the council was in the process of working on a timber fencing in a number of areas around the district and she would come back to him on those done and which areas had be scheduled to be done.
Blocked gullies irk Kilcoyne
independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne raised the issue of a number of blocked gullies around Castlebar at the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District. He told the meeting: "There are a considerable number of gullies blocked around the town and there is one in particular outside the Linenhall Arts Centre on the street, which is blocked completely and another one up at the old Cinema on Spencer Street; it is either the gully is blocked or the road is sunk, one or the other, but there is about a foot of resting water there." Responding to Cllr Kilcoyne, Anne Sweeney, senior engineer for Mayo County Council, said: "The cleaner has been out in a number of locations and I will get them to target those specific areas."
Update sought on Westport Road crossing
Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan asked to be updated by Mayo County Council on the installation of a pedestrian crossing on the Westport Road at the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District. Cllr Sheridan told the meeting that the majority of housing on the road was on the left-hand side as you go out the road and you have to cross over the road if you want to get to Lough Lannagh or the Swimming Pool closer to the town.
Sheridan wants council meetings recorded and put online
Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan has asked that the Castlebar Municipal District record their meetings and make them available online for people to watch back, so that constituents can see the work the councillors are doing. She told the May meeting of the district: "We are spending a fortune on digital transformation and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies ) in the council and we are no further along to making our meetings accessible to all members of the public, I know people can contact Iarla (Moran - head of the district for the council ) and come in on the meetings, but theses should be live on the county council website and Facebook pages to show people the work we are doing, what we are discussing and making politics more relevant to people and more accessible. It annoys me with the amount of funding we are putting in that it is still not done."
Kilcoyne asks for start day on invasive species survey
Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne has asked for an update as to when a study into invasive species such as Himalayan balsam in Lough Lannagh and along the Castlebar river would get underway. He raised the issue at the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, saying that 'a grand had been allocated for the study to take place'. He said there were about 900 wetlands sites to be mapped and he was wondering how many were in the district
Kilnageer progress requested
Fine Gael councillor Ger Deere looked for a progress report on the planning application due to be made by Irish Rail in relation to the Kilnageer crossing between Belcarra and Breaffy, at the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District. Responding, Anne Sweeney, senior engineer for Mayo County Council, said: "I spoke to Irish Rail the week before last, they are in contact with the landowners to see can they progress that." She added that the planning application had been brought to a stage where it could be applied for, but they are in discussion with local landowners about getting an agreement to proceed with the planning.
Burke queries line marking at Ballyglass junction
Fine Gael councillor Cyril Burke has asked for an update on the installation of road markings at the junction in Ballyglass at the old Garda Station. Responding, Anne Sweeney, senior engineer for Mayo County Council said: "We are out in Ballyglass at the moment and we will be doing a full line marking and will include the junction in that."
Gavin calls for rail in Market Square
Fianna Fáil councillor Blackie Gavin has called for a handrail to be put in at the steps in front of the commercial premises at the bottom of Market Square in Castlebar. Speaking at the May meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, Cllr Gavin said the steps were very dangerous in particular to elderly people and those with visual impairments and a rail needed to be installed as a matter of urgency.
