‘We need to be regularly updated on the progress of the North Kerry Greenway’
LISTOWEL Municipal Area councillors took aim at Kerry County Council management over the lack of information they are being provided on the progress of the Great Southern Trail, currently under construction but subject to a number of outstanding questions yet.
Their frustration on the lack of information coming their way was first voiced by Cllr Jimmy Moloney at an online meeting of the authority on Monday when he proposed that a meeting be arranged with councillors and staff from Limerick County Council and Newcastle West Municipal District ‘ to discuss how the potential of the Greenway is going to be maximised so both areas benefit?’
Cllr Moloney, one of the earliest advocates of the GST project, was informed that an ‘interworking group’ has been established in relation to the Greenway with several meetings having taken place between staff of both Kerry and Limerick County Councils already. But councillors had no knowledge of the establishment of such a group, he said.
Nor had he been informed of the approval of a cross-boundary ‘ LEADER’ to advance the work of promoting the Greenway, the facilities required, ensuring the consistency of approach across a number of areas including signage and other finishing touches, as set out in the Council response to his motion.
“I don’t want to be harping on about this but it seems I have to. I’m around long enough to remember when even getting the Greenway on the agenda was difficult... I know we’re going to lose a bit more time with this period of level 5 restrictions, but it might be a blessing in disgusie because I don’t think we’re ready... We haven’t got
anything like a detailed report in this respone. All this should be advertised now, with the plans in place long by now. There aren’t any updates, no detailed report. I noted a cross-boundary Leader, that’s the first I heard of it. I have concerns the way the whole project is going, if more resources are needed tell us so we can go further up the line. I would like to meet online with counterparts from Limerick... I would like to now what the Leader is and I propose that a councillor would be nominated from both sides,” Cllr Moloney said.
Fine Gael Cllr Aoife Thornton echoed his fears over the lack of information coming councillors’ way. “I’ve asked what is the outline for a massive project for North Kerry such as this to include a timeframe. My answer is tiny, it doesn’t answer the questions in my view and I don’t think it is too much for us to ask for it.”
Cllr Thornton presented management with a simple timeline graphic on an A4 sheet of paper: “What I want is something like what I’ve drawn here, a timeframe that would show where we are, so that when we look at it we know the timeframe and the outstanding permissions we need to get it to the end. If I need to I will put down another motion but I shouldn’t need to. I understand that Tom Sheehy and his team probably know what they’re going towards but I need to know too.”
One of the outstanding questions concerns the question of the development of the GST from the Tim Kennelly roundabout down to the old Neodata site.
Sinn Féin Cllr Tom Barry said councillors had ‘many questions’. “We have many questions and we cannot answer those questions. We should be updated on a regular basis every step of the way.”