Independent Ballina town councillor Peter Clarke will travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to represent the town at its St Patrick’s Day parade on March 13. He was proposed by Cllr Francis McAndrew and seconded by Mayor Mary Kelly. Independent councillor Gerry Ginty told the meeting: “As one who usually objects to these type of trips, I don’t to this one as there is only one person going and with Cllr Clarke out there promoting the Clarke Collection, it could have a major pay off in the long run to the town.”
Councillors welcome progress on St Patrick’s estate
The members of Ballina Town Council all welcomed the news that contractors are on site at St Patrick’s estate as part of the multi-million euro redevelopment of the estate. All the members expressed their hopes that the project will see the proper regeneration of the area and that the estate does not fall back to the way it was, despite the best efforts of the vast majority of the residents who lived there. Town manager Paddy Mahon said the next step was the setting up of the advisory board for the estate with members of the council, housing agency Cluid, and residents.
Council to take action on derelict sites
Ballina Town Council will take action on a number of derelict sites in the town. Cllr Mark Winters brought the issue of two derelict buildings in the town which he wanted to see derelict site notices placed on. Town engineer Michael O’Grady told Cllr Winter that he was aware of the sites and was working on it. Cllr Gerry Ginty also raised the issue of a site on Convent Hill; the engineer told him that the council had been in discussions with the owner of the site and was awaiting a response, and was ready to progress to legal steps if needed in the near future.
IBAL report welcomed
The members of Ballina Town Council welcomed the recent IBAL report on litter in the town. The town was placed number 24 on a list of 60 towns. However Mayor Mary Kelly said that she did not think it was fair that Greenhills estate was singled out as being a litter blackspot, as a lot of work was done in the estate by the residents and the estate has won a number of awards at both national and local level over the past number of years for being litter free.
Approval given to take over estates
Ballina Town Council gave approval to take over two more estates in the town at Rathmeel Lawns and Cuige Ard, Quignalecka. Town engineer Michael O’Grady told the meeting that some remedial works would have to be done on the estates, but the council had a cash bond from the developer which would cover the vast majority of the works to be done.
