1. Confirmation of Minutes
To consider the confirmation and signing of the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 19th September 2016.
Proposed and seconded.
To consider the confirmation and signing of the Minutes of the Special Meeting held on 19th September 2016.
Cllr McGrath wonders should we endorse these minutes at the next Special Meeting rather than today?
Municipal District Officer (MDO) says that what was given out at the last Special Meeting was a presentation and the next one will be a presentation on what is going out for public consultation in November.
General confusion amongst the Members who thought that they were going to be consulted at another meeting before the Draft Local Area Plan was produced for circulation.
Cllr Forde: Why have we had two meetings so the officials can tell us what they are going to do? In effect, the officials decide what is in the plan.
MDO: No. The decisions are made after the public consultation process. That’s when the decision-making starts for Members. This time, the Planning Policy Unit (PPU) did consultation with Members over and above what is required under the Act.
Cllr Collins: All the submissions that came in – are they being weeded out before it goes for public consultation?
MDO not clear on this.
Cllr D’Alton checked up her notes from the Special Meeting and confirmed that although it wasn’t the impression given, the PPU had said that the next meeting would indeed be the presentation of the Draft Plan.
Confirmed that the next Special Meeting will be on 25th October at 10am – next special LAP meeting.
MDO: What will be presented at the next meeting is what is going to be published. If people want to put something in which wasn’t there at that stage, it is done under the public consultation process.
Cllrs Collins and Forde are worried that some submissions were late in, the PPU was under pressure to get the Plan out. They asked that these submissions would be left until after the public consultation has gone in and then they will be considered again.
Cllr McGrath: We are concerned that Members have no input into the Plan that is going out. I don’t feel like we have ownership of it.
All Members are in agreement.
Cllr Forde: I want to flag it that this matter of the late submissions will be cleared up on 25th. I had a private meeting with the PPU and they asked me to defer. They said to come back to them after the pubic consultation. Now this appears to be wrong?
Cllr McGrath: When the Draft Plan is published, you can make amendments only.
Cllr Collins: If there were late submissions that might top up the availability of land for housing requirements, they will be narrowing it done to one in the Draft Plan?
Cllr Canty: They showed us 3 late submissions the last day and they said that they’d go out as well. There are 800 houses planned for Ballincollig already. Spoke of Murnane O’Shea development. Details for the main new area for housebuilding planned for Ballincollig are already in.
Cllr McGrath: Please tell PPU that the Members want this next meeting to be a 2-way meeting, not a one way meeting.
MDO: OK but to be fair, PPU made it clear that they had time constraints, that they were working under significant pressure and that the next meeting would be a presentation.
2. Consideration of Reports and Recommendations
National Roads – Proposed Speed Limit Changes
Works programmes updates: – Surface Dressing, Restoration Improvement, Drainage, Footpaths, Public Lighting
Area Engineer (AE): For information purposes, the TII is doing a speed limit review for national roads. RPS has been appointed to put the proposals together. The proposals as recommended by RPS are what are in these drawings today.
- The N40 to the Kinsale Road Roundabout.
- The N27 to the airport from the Kinsale Road.
- The N71 towards Ballinhassig.
- The N28 from the Bloomfield Interchange.
RPS is proposing some changes to speed limits. They will go to public consultation next month. These proposals were shown to the area engineers and the Area Engineer has recommended some changes. Thinks we should look at the proposals and will email us with whom we should send our recommendations to.
Restoration improvement programme: We came before the Municipal District Committee with a 3 year programme and we have done the 2016 items listed on that. Alta Terrace is still to be done; hopes to have it done before the end of the month. We had some money left over from savings from a competitive tendering point of view. We extended the areas we were working in rather than transfer the money to 2017. It was primarily this that completed the section in Coach Hill. Yet more savings mean that we will do some roads from the 2017 programme. We don’t like doing road work of this type at this time of year but so far it has been relatively favourable from a temperature point of view.
After the bad storm weather in December last year, we got funding from the Department to cover the damage done to roads. Three other roads being done with this funding. Ballea Road: extra drainage and resurfacing. Ballinrea Road: drainage works done and surface will be redone from from north of Ashgrove roundabout to the urban area. Old Carrigaline Road is in very poor condition and it got a bad battering because it didn’t have an adequate storm network.
Surface dressing programme: All done.
Public lighting programme: Church Road and R610 done. We hoped to do a Ballincollig scheme but the public lighting allocation wasn’t sufficient at the start of the year. This was a big project. But other budgets were made available subsequently and we can put a new section of footpath in this area (to be started in next few weeks) and will include an underground network for public lighting.
Also a larger scheme included an additional light on Bracken Court. We have since decided to put in a new section of footpath where we removed the ditch at Scart Cross and we will put new additional lights on this rather than the single light planned beforehand. All the other individual lights are being done.
Footpath programme: Has started. Focusing on Carrigaline at present but a second crew will come on line soon in Douglas and they will work in tandem.
Drainage programme: Mostly done. Apart from the drainage programme, we have a drainage company on site every day of the year who twice a week clean out drains.
Cllr Collins: There is a public light in the middle of the footpath of Highbury Drive. The location is dangerous and the light is faulty. Is delighted with the drainage at the Portgate Industrial Estate. Sightlines out of Carrigmore are dangerous; one cannot see traffic coming up from Ashgrove.
Cllr McGrath: Will there be any layout changes with the resurfacing of the Old Carrigaline Road? Will the footpath at Scart be done in the coming weeks? What about the €800k from the new school campus in relation to the drainage and resurfacing on the Ballinrea Road.
AE: On the Ballinrea Road, most of the perceived works will be beyond where we will be resurfacing. The €800k will be used for resurfacing, Ballinrea Cross and on the main Cork Road, etc.
Cllr Jeffers: When it is raining, because of the camber of the road, rainwater is flowing down into Grange Heights.
AE: Water should be cut off before it reaches Grange Heights. There will not be any new drains installed here – this road has a concrete base. But if we can improve the shape and stop water coming in off the Grange Road, we will do that.
Cllr Jeffers: When will the Donnybrook Hill lights be turned on?
AE: Footpath will be in and as part of that the ducting will be in as will the bases for the columns. Airtricity is swamped at the moment so thinks it will be December before those lights are connected. There is no timeline for by Douglas Hall. A week ago, they said they would be submitting a road opening licence.
Cllr Forde: Good news. If you get the detail of the footpath programme, you might let us have it. Years ago we would get a detail every month of what was being done in the Municipal District. Would that be too much trouble?
AE: I can try but at times it will not be possible. Or the programme may change before we get it. Will try though.
Cllr D’Alton: When the Rochestown to Passage West walkway was being done, there was a commitment to putting low wattage lights that wouldn’t throw lights too far. This was to protect the SPA in Lough Mahon. At the beginning, some of the lights were repeatedly broken. Some of the heads have been replaced with heads that throw a sharp white light, nothing like the soft light which had been committed to. Would there be funding remaining after this lighting programme to put replacement low wattage heads on these lights that are too bright?
AE: No. But will follow this up with Airtricity. Get details of the poles that have those new lights and will get the public lighting section to liaise with Airtricity too. They might replace them free of charge if the timeline isn’t too long.
Cllr D’Alton: Also on lighting, the lights on the quayside at Passage West haven’t been working since the works in Fr. O’Flynn Park.
AE: We are aware of this and we have identified what is wrong. We’re waiting for the contractor who did the work on the park to come back and fix it. He broke the cable. Not sure if the park will be closed off for fixing this but will give us warning if it is.
Cllr D’Alton: And the new lights in Tom Fahy Park and those installed in the Centre Block by the Town Council before its dissolution are also not working. The Centre Block ones may be troublesome because they are installed in the ground so drainage may be an issue.
Also on drainage, when some of the roads were being resurfaced, manholes were covered over. In the case of Chapel Hill, for example, the ones at the top were re-exposed but the ones at the bottom were not. Also tar was left in the drains running down the side of the hill so that the rainwater can’t reach the gully.
AE: Yes, we’re aware of that. Believes that drain is on the list to be cleared.
Cllr Murphy: Light beyond Eurospar where there are trees growing around it. Public lighting guy couldn’t find it on his map. Also please clean gullies in Ardmore Estate.
AE: We’re aware the trees are blocking the light.
3. Disposal of Property
To consider the disposal of freehold interest in house and plot at No. 8 Dan Desmond Terrace, Carrigaline, Co. Cork to Jason Orchard and Deirdre O’Callaghan for the consideration of €350.00 inclusive of administration charges.
No objections
To consider the Grant of Wayleave and Right-of-Way at Castletreasure, Douglas, Co Cork to Mr. Maurice Walsh, Clonmoyle, Coachford, Co Cork for the consideration of €1.00.
No objections.
To consider the disposal of property at Castletreasure, Co. Cork to College Corinthians A.F.C. by way of lease for the term of 35 years for the consideration of €200.00 per annum.
Cllr Forde: Raised questions about this at a previous meeting and didn’t get a satisfactory answer. Said that she was unhappy with disposal of that land and access/egress. The main access outlined in the planning was subsequently built over and the council then decided that the access would go through an estate and the residents objected. We all supported the residents. There was a parcel of land which was given to College Corinthians prior to this – that’s great – and this next parcel is great news for them but queries why some of the land could not be designated for another sporting organisation. There are many sporting organisations in Douglas which need to be facilitated, including Douglas Rugby and gymnastics. Has never been told what the cost of the 25 acres was. Who paid for it – housing or recreation/amenity? How much is left? Will the topography mean that it cannot be used for anything? Doesn’t want to hold College Corinthians up but feels the whole way this land has been bought, used and dispersed is open to question. Still wants to see sight of the email Cllr D’Alton saw when the South Cork Manager was circulating a map at a previous meeting. Would like to see this and the date on it. Hopes the Local Area Plan will designate land for other sporting organisations.
Cllr McGrath: This isn’t suitable land for recreation. Thinks we saw a figure before on its purchase cost but doesn’t have it to hand. There is a question mark over the land and why it was purchased. Is happy to propose this for College Corinthians. They are the only club who can benefit from this parcel of land because of the access issues.
Cllr Forde: But you do accept that the access issues have stymied other organisations getting use from that land?
MDO: The original access would have gone through the estate anyway. The new access is 100-200 metres away from the original one. You are saying houses were built over the original access.
Cllr Forde: The access that was proposed originally was a main spine road into the estate. It was the subject of many meetings between the councillors and officials. The officials said then that access could be via a small green. But the residents’ kids used to play on that green. Hopes the LAP will come up trumps so that sporting organisations won’t be forced into other areas.
MDO: Cost of the site would be have been available at the time. You said you were “never able to find out” what the price of it was. But this was publicly available information.
Cllr Forde: That was well over 12 years ago and was in the context of the land being used for recreation and amenity.
Cllr Desmond: Seconds Seamus’s proposal to accept it for College Corinthians.
4. General Municipal Allocation/Town Development Fund
MDO: We agreed to set aside €36k for the skate park in Carrigaline if there was a call from Sports Capital. We did it last year because we knew there was a call but it was not successful. We agreed to hold the application and funding but there was no call. So there is €36k in the GMA that hasn’t been spent. It has been agreed that this money would be used for the skatepark and I am waiting for the finance department to come back to report on a Special Planning Contribution in Carrigaline. These two together should be enough to build a skate park. The good news for 2017 will mean that we will have more money available in the kitty for 2017. There is €8,200 left in the GMA. The AE wants €3k to do works on an open area in Frankfield. It was an issue last year. That would leave €5,200 in the GMA.
On the TDF, we allocated money to various schemes. The Street Painting Scheme will use only €5k. About €10k of the signage will be used. So there is €50,500 remaining in the TDF. The AE has suggested that there is a badly needed footpath on the Rochestown Road heading from the hotel into Douglas. The rest could then be used for works in Passage West, Ballincollig, Douglas, etc.
Cllr O’Donnabhain: There is one remaining stretch of footpath in Ballincollig that needs to be addressed. On the way down to the Regional Park. People are stepping off the footpath because it is too narrow and the road is very busy. Urgent health and safety issue.
Cllr Desmond: Welcomes the report and thinks we will have to be tougher. Delighted for the footpaths to be done on the Rochestown Road. Asks for more detail on the Frankfield situation.
Cllr McGrath: Agrees with the skateboard funding proposal. The Minister did say there would be a Sports Capital Grant coming up next year. There is huge potential for the community park in Carrigaline. Was hoping for a running track. Thinks it would get fantastic use. It is off-road and the space is there.
AE: The section of footpath is that opposite the hotel on the Rochestown Road. Not sure if the funding will stretch to the section that has no footpath. The existing footpath is level with the road and is flat and unsafe.
Cllr McGrath: That would be good. Has a motion today about two estates. Would appreciate if their footpath requirements could be considered.
MDO: The width of the road where Cllr O’Donnabhain is talking about is the issue. There isn’t much can be done there. But will look.
In Frankfield, there is a disputed area of green at the rear of Dunvale. There was an attempt to incorporate it into private gardens. It got contentious but has all been resolved. In our efforts to assist, we are proposing to cut the grass.
The running track will be looked at.
Cllr Collins: Twinning – will funding for this be out of the TDF? The County Manager is now saying twinning will be with Municipal Districts rather than with a town. How will this affect it? What about signage? Why is the spending less than allocated?
MDO: Doesn’t know about Municipal Districts and twinning. Carrigaline Community and Ballincollig are the only twinnings which have been funded this year. Is not yet aware of the CE’s proposals.
On signage, Douglas Tidy Towns were going to put up new signs on a lot of the streets. We said we would work with them but when they went to property owners, the proposal wasn’t as well received as was expected. We might have over-provided for signage.
5. To consider the following Notices of Motion in the name of:
Cllr. D Forde
1. “That the Area Engineer and MD manager clarify if Monfield estate has been taken in charge and what progress is being made to address the infrastructural deficiencies.”
Cllr Forde: This has been dealt with.
2. “That a safe crossing be installed at or adjacent to St Lukes National School or a Traffic Warden be appointed to the school in the interests of the pupils’ safety.”
Cllr Forde: For many years the residents in the vicinity of Douglas Lawn and in the school have been asking for traffic calming. It is very narrow under the BowWow bridge and footpaths are very narrow. The principal of St. Luke’s School is asking for a pedestrian crossing between the school and the church. It is dangerous. Would like to incorporate one from the church to the other side of the road also. And to incorporate assistance for people trying to exit Douglas Lawn. That whole area needs some alternative way of crossing.
AE: There are no real speed or traffic volumes on Churchyard Lane. Is willing to speak to the principal to understand where she is coming from. Whereas there is much more traffic on Church Road, there isn’t a suitable location to serve the school with a pedestrian crossing. You have a tabletop ramp outside the church and you run out of footpath on the southern side of the road. A school warden is out of my control. It has come up many times but it is clear that we are not employing any more school wardens.
Cllr McGrath: Believes the decision on the LPT is facilitating a new school warden scheme. Thinks this will be brought forward as a proposal soon.
AE: Thinks there is no satisfactory answer for Church Road.
Cllr. S McGrath
1. “To seek a written report outlining who is responsible for the removal of abandoned vehicles in a public place.”
Response to McGrath’s motion on abandoned vehicles
Cllr McGrath: Thanks for the report. Clears the issue up in general. Abandoned vehicles are a huge problem. What about estates not taken in charge.
MDO: We will not clear from estates not taken in charge. The Road Traffic Act deals with abandoned vehicles on a public road or in a car park. But if someone abandons one in a field, etc. it is a waste management issue. It becomes litter. So perhaps take it up with the Environment Department.
Cllr McGrath: Gardai acknowledge a road in an estate not taken in charge to be a public place. You have to have insurance to drive on it. But taking away abandoned vehicles is a significant draw on Council resources. It isn’t ok that people can leave vehicles lying around.
Cllr D’Alton: Could you tell us what cost is involved in moving a vehicle? It might be illustrative for the public.
MDO/AE: The biggest cost is that it is a significant drain on time. An engineer has to go out to check the vehicle, come back and do paperwork, then go back out to check that it has been removed. Will find out the cost of getting the vehicle lifted.
Cllr O’Donnabhain: Designated spaces per house in a housing estate coupled with a transient population – this makes vehicle dumping a real problem. Echoes comments seeking stronger regulation. Every vehicle has a registration and the registered owner is liable for fines, etc. when other aspects of the Road Traffic Act is not complied with. There can be a health and safety issue too. Could perhaps be referred to the JPC? Gardai have a role here too. Local gardai in Ballincollig are helpful.
Cllr Canty: This has arisen many times over the years. We don’t seem to have a comprehensive attitude towards it at all. Selling cars on the side of the road is now happening again. Within estates too. You’ll still see signs on the side of the road. We have to enforce our rules and regulations. Recommends that perhaps we could refer it to the SPC.
2. “To request that Mount Rivers & Newton Court be included in a future Footpath Work Programme.”
Cllr McGrath: Have already spoken about this. Mount Rivers is a 40 year old estate. Many of the residents are elderly. Some have taken tumbles. Cllr Jeffers supports the request for Newton Court. The volume of footfall through the estate increases year on years. The school is now Munster’s largest primary school.
AE: These will be looked at in 2017.
3. “To seek a written update on the proposed road realignment at the front of the Maryborough Ridge development.”
MDO: We have no report on this. Will circulate the report and we will talk about it at the next meeting.
Cllr. M D’Alton
1. “That, cognisant of the damaging noise and air pollution associated with heavily trafficked motorways, the National Roads Design Office/Transport Infrastructure Ireland would consider an entirely alternative route for the new M28 which would avoid its being led through built up residential areas.”
Response to D’Alton’s motion on M28
Cllr D’Alton: We’re all aware that the new motorway to lead from Ringaskiddy is being designed and the EIS and planning application is in preparation. Cognisant that the Port of Cork predicts the volume of freight traffic on this road to increase by almost 3,500 vehicles per year. At present, the route that is being considered is down that of the existing N28. Residents along this route already have huge issues with noise. Even if the residents are to be provided with noise protection, there is only physically so much mitigation noise barriers can give. It is very difficult to engineer the noise issue out. It is virtually impossible to engineer out the issue with air pollution from what will be largely diesel engines. There is increasing awareness of health-related concerns associated with air pollution from busy roads such as this. For example one recent study in the Netherlands indicated that for every increase of 5 µg/m3 in annual exposure to PM2.5, the risk of death for men rises by 7%. And PM2.5 is a relatively large particulate; there are others which are much smaller. Notes the report that has been issued by Bob O’Shea and thanks for it. We are all aware that the Ringaskiddy traffic must connect with the N40 but I disagree that the only way it can connect to the N40 is through residential areas.
Cllr Desmond: Is concerned in particular about the noise issue. The biggest concern is the standard which TII applies to this. The answer you always get is that the noise experienced is to an acceptable standard. The acceptable is at 60 dB for a greenfield site but all they have to do in relation to this development is not to exceed current exposure which is already far in excess of what anybody should have to endure in their homes.
Cllr Forde: We are all currently involved with residents who have a strong objection to the proposed route for the N28 Ringaskiddy Motorway scheme. These residents have mobilised significant public opinion. I live smack bang in the middle of this area. I can confirm that congestion of traffic has increased significantly in last few weeks. Cannot imagine what it will be like when the proposals are implemented. Also concerned that the long-promised Demand Management Study still hasn’t been given to us. The Douglas LUTS study confirms that noise is way beyond norms. When we raise this issue and ask for noise barriers, the officials tell us it is not the NRA’s problem. So noise and air pollution will cause this to run and run. The reply from Bob O’Shea doesn’t cut it.
Cllr McGrath: The reply doesn’t tell us anything new. Residents attended a meeting here with many of the councillors and at the time, it was confirmed that the EIS would look at alternatives. The response here doesn’t show that those alternatives are being considered. There are indeed existing pollution issues. Asks for some feedback arising from the August meeting.
Cllr D’Alton: I have significant concerns with regard to the EIS. Have been involved with the preparation and analysis of EIS’s long enough to know that it is far too easy to appear to address issues in EIS’s so that they look ok, but they are not really when the project gets implemented. At that meeting in County Hall with the Roads Design Office, I asked the engineers to be aware that there are noise and air pollution issues that are simply beyond their control. And the impacts of those cannot be engineered out. The reality is that if the noise levels experienced by some residents increase yet further, I think they would have a genuine case to bring to the European Courts.
MDO: I will revert to Bob O’Shea and ask for feedback on the August meeting, particularly in relation to noise and air pollution.
All agreed that this would be good.
2. “That the road surface in Maryborough Court would be addressed as soon as possible.”
Cllr D’Alton: Residents contacted me about the road surface in Maryborough Court. Pleased to hear the AE talk about savings in the implementing of the resurfacing programme. Hopeful that perhaps some of those savings could be used to do this surface. The residents maintain the estate well but the roads are narrow, there is a lot of on-street parking and the surface is disintegrating extensively in places. Had hoped the annual programme of surface dressing could possibly be used but understand that this is now no longer permitted within estates. Perhaps the AE could expand on this?
Cllr McGrath: A number of us were contacted about this. Have been talking about this with the AE for some time. Knows she can’t commit at this stage to the resurfacing.
AE: Any savings we have made have been used. We will be lucky to get to the end of the year unscathed. Won’t be doing anything in Maryborough Court this year. It is true that other councillors have mentioned Maryborough Court to me. The roads that were on the programmes this year were in a worse condition than Maryborough Court. Have to prioritise based on the need. It is not suitable for surface dressing. We don’t use surface dressing as a finish in estates because it is loose. Up to this year just gone, a certain proportion of it could be used inside in housing estates. It would be a bitumen surface. But this year we were not allowed to do this any more. Will look to see if something can be done next year but will prioritise relative to other estates.
Cllr. E Jeffers
1. “To implement road markings exiting Glenside into Grangevale in Pinecroft to stop traffic and give way to traffic in Glenside.”
AE: We are still doing road markings although the weather is trying to turn. Will link up with Cllr Jeffers and identify exact area.
2. “To reduce the height of footpaths or allow a gully to access the culvert at Greenwood estate, Togher Road to help with flooding.”
AE: The footpath is right next to a pedestrian crossing. We did flooding protection works and put in a lot of extra gullies. So if the capacity is in the river, that problem is solved. What happened on 29th December is that the river at that point has a concrete beam over the top of it. The full bore was taken up, the volume of water was so great in the river. A resident of Greenwood told me this. A flash flood came down. In most situations except the extreme, what is there will more than adequately cater for it. No properties were affected.
The residents got an awful battering in 2012, so understands why they are nervous but there is little more we can do. Will talk to the Flood Relief people and make sure there is nothing more can be done. Although we have spoken to them before.
2. “To redevelop and improve the surrounding areas at the mass rock on the airport road to enhance its potential for tourism and theological purposes.”
Cllr Jeffers: The Council did work to this before. It is a gorgeous area off the airport road. People use it to pray. Mass Rocks are historic. This one is very hard to get into now. People did stop using it because there was trouble – horses, litter, etc. Would be something that could make it make it more accessible. There appears to have been some work done on it recently?
AE: The Mass Rock is on private property. We’re limited in what we can do.
Cllr Forde: Didn’t a committee come before us to ask us about this?
MDO: That was about 20 years ago. But there was only so much they could do themselves because it is on private land.
AE: We haven’t done anything on the rock in the last 5 years.
Cllr Jeffers: It is open to the public and it is used.
MDO: It isn’t ours, so it is not our responsibility either. Would be slow for us to take on something like this on private ground. It is very steep. Regulations for slopes, etc. – this wouldn’t do now.
6. Votes of Congratulations
Cllr Desmond: Congratulations to Ballincollig on winning the County Final. They beat NEMO on the way!
7. Any Other Business
Cllr Murphy: Dock Cottages, Passage West – the residents have their bins with Greenstar. But Greenstar won’t come up the road. That means the bins would be sitting on Church Hill. Greenstar says Wiser has narrower trucks than Greenstar does so this why Wiser can go up the road but Greenstar can’t.
AE: Bin collections are a private service between individuals.
Cllr Murphy: Mariners Quay, Passage West – can we write to the property owner?
Cllr D’Alton: There is no overall property owner in this instance. There are a whole lot of individual property owners, all of whom are supposed to pay into a management fee. The property is then managed by a property management company. I have spoken to them several times, most recently about two months ago. Many of the owners bought during the boom and have gone bust themselves since. So they are not paying their annual charge which funds the property management. As it stands, the fund is not adequate to clean the building. On a positive note, the property management company says that in these improving financial times, many of the properties are being moved on. So they hope that the current situation will change. Absolutely write to the property management company, but just be aware that they are as fully cognisant of the need to clean the building as we are.
Cllr Forde: Douglas traffic management alleviation works. Suggests relocating the bus stop outside St. Columba’s School back towards Shamrock Lawn. Has received an email from a resident to make a case for this. He suggests that the footpath would be cut into the tree border. It would enable buses to pull off the roadway and allow traffic freeflow down the hill. It makes sense.
AE: This is an issue for Bus Eireann. But Eireann is very much against bus stops off line because it takes so long for the bus to get back on line. Maybe they would be willing to move the bus stop back without creating the layby.
MDO asks that Cllr Forde would forward the email to him.
Cllr Jeffers: Palmbury, Togher – the residents say the green is going to be taken away to accommodate parking. Is this the case?
AE: Cllr O’Laoghaire asked about this. County Hall hasn’t committed to it. Grangeway residents also requested. Some of this is planning related because it is taking away from green space. There are a lot of steps involved and there are financial steps as well.
MDO: Nicola Radley was to send us 2016 projects that didn’t get funded. We are now wondering whether there would be a call from the GMA for 2017 to fund these projects. There is one for our area – Carrigaline Tidy Towns for the Dermot Lynch Memorial Plaque. They want to put a plaque on the bridge to commemorate him. They were looking for €2k.
Cllr Desmond: Concerned because doesn’t think that the 1916 committee has finished its discussion on where these additional projects might be funded from. Believes they had not yet concluded that they should go back out to Municipal Districts to be funded from the GMA. Believes we should hold off until this is confirmed.
Cllr D’Alton: Very much in support of Carrigaline Tidy Towns. The work they do is excellent. But concerned because they got significant funding from the GMA to do the 1916 garden already. There is a big draw on our GMA and just wants its distribution to be equitable.
MDO: Much of the funding for the garden was from a separate source, not from the GMA. So it shouldn’t affect the equitable distribution issue.
Agreed we will put it on the agenda for next month.
Cllr Jeffers: Believe Carrigaline Tidy Towns opened a Garden of Remembrance. Just wondering why only some councillors got invitations to it?
MDO: The invitations were not issued by Cork County Council.