A Comeragh District councillor says it's unfair that the district isn't receiving any funding allocation for street maintenance. Despite being predominantly rural, Independent Councillor Declan Clune believes the district should receive funding in order to carry out work in the area's towns and villages. He raised his concerns during the District's budgetary discussions this week.
"We do have streets. I know you can use the argument of the parking charges income, but the reality is, that millions have been invested over the last few years in new footpaths be it Portlaw, Kilmac, Bunmahon, or even up around Rathgormack and other areas such as Kill Village.
"A lot of those areas have very active and successful tidy towns, but they can't do everything, they simply don't have the manpower to do it, particularly in the larger towns and villages.
"Another issue I would like to raise is the parks, pitches, and open spaces. Again we are getting only 3% of that budget.
"Obviously, there are bigger parks, pitches, etc. in Dungarvan, Tramore, and obviously the city. They are fabulous facilities where unfortunately our facilities are falling back a little bit and they are not near the same standard as the other areas.
"I know again you can make the argument around parking charges and all that. I think the operation of the street cleaning service is something I raise every year. There is a budget of a million euros there for it and we are getting zero."
Councillor Clune continued, "There's definitely scope there. I think it is very restrictive that we have the same budget every year obviously with the same resources. There is definitely room there, and we have to remember that the people of the Comeragh district are as entitled as anyone in the city or the other urban areas to street-cleaning parks pitches and open spaces.
"If some of these figures can be revisited based on what I have said I would appreciate it"
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