Universal estate speed limit is needed urgently Reservations over presidential hopeful Sharkey meeting

AN appeal for a universal speed limit of 30 km/h to be applied to housing estates across the county was put forward by Cllr George Lawlor.

Councillors were presented with the County Wexford Road Traffic Special Speed Bye Law Limits document.

Chairman Cllr John Hegarty said the councillors have been waiting for years for speed limits to be set in estates. He said a review of the document will take place within 18 months, during which time councillors can make suggestions.

‘We are working on guidelines but we wouldn’t have to rigidly stick to them. We have to discuss them.’

Roads engineer Noel O’Driscoll said the bye laws cannot be applied to all estates in the county.

Cllr George Lawlor said they should be to avoid any ambiguity and confusion.

‘I would ask that it would be universally applied across the county. I think it’s called Jake’s Law after a child who was killed in a Kilkenny estate.’

Cllr Ger Carthy said he would like to see the speed limit in Ferrycarrig changed and at Tagoat.

Mr O’Driscoll said the new limits will be applied at 250 housing estates, adding that there are 1,000 housing estates in total across the county, some of which only have three or four houses.

‘If you would be putting speed limits in all housing estates it may be too much,’ he said. PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Kevin Sharkey has invited himself to address members of Wexford County Council, but some councillors questioned the merits of his visit.

The Dublin man wrote that he intends to enter the presidential race and would like an audience in Wexford County Hall.

‘He is jumping the gun a bit,’ Cllr Paddy Kavanagh said, before Cllr Malcolm Byrne questioned the merits of his visit. RATES will not be applied to County Wexford charity shops in this calendar year.

Head of Finance Annette O’Neill said: ‘We will not be putting any pressure on charities this year. We will come back once we have formulated the official position on rates.’

Cllr David Hynes brought a motion calling on the council to have a fresh look at the way it collects rates on properties used by charities whereby the charity has to go the Valuation Office to get a waiver to exempt them for the purposes of paying rates.

He said the move is causing major concern to bona fide charities who own shops in the county as many of the charities had been told they still had to pay.

Ms O’Neill said a decision has

‘A few years back we entertained David Norris down here. It didn’t necessarily mean that we voted for him,’ Cllr Kavanagh said.

Cllr Byrne said David Norris was a candidate of substance who had credibility.

‘I would have serious reservations about some of the views that Kevin Sharkey has expressed,’ referencing Mr Sharkey’s controversial views on immigration, before adding that he is not opposed to allowing him to address the councillors.

Cllr David Hynes: major concern.

to be made regarding whether the shop or part of the shop that has a retail element will be charged rates.

Cllr Hynes said: ‘Hopefully we will have a good outcome out of this. I am happy with that.’

His motion was withdrawn. WEXFORD County Council management have been encouraged to consider investing in an electric vehicle fleet to keep in step with modernity.

In a motion Cllr Jim Moore said as part of the council’s fleet upgrade activity, it could also carry out an audit of council vehicles to determine how many could be electrically powered.

Cllr Moore said: ‘At the end of 2017 we had 6,000 vehicles under state control on the roads and only four of them were alternate to petrol or diesel.

‘Last year we added nearly 150 vehicles to the national fleet. We can’t ignore what is going on around us,’ criticising the lack of a move to electric.

Cllr Robbie Ireton said the motion was very good in theory, recalling another theory espoused by John Gormley.

‘He cycled to the Dáil and used a state car to bring his lunch in the back seat of the car. All at state expense.’