Local government reform at fault says Cllr McDonald
PEOPLE are falling and injuring themselves on Wexford town’s broken and neglected footpaths while areas of smaller population in rural villages enjoy state-of-the-art walkways.
This is one of the consequences of the 2014 reform of local government which has seen Wexford Borough lose its own budget and civic identity, according to Fianna Fail councillor Lisa McDonald.
A town the size of Wexford needs its own budget to ensure that footpaths, streets and housing improvements as well as litter-control are maintained. Without it, Wexford is in danger of falling into an increasingly unattractive state of disrepair, according to Cllr. McDonald.
Following local government reform, the budget for County Wexford is now divided into four to cover the extended districts of Wexford, New Ross, Enniscorthy and Gorey.
But Wexford, the capital town and area of highest population and footfall should have its own separate financial resources to ensure standards are maintained, said Cllr. McDonald.
She welcomed a Private Members Bill by Fianna Fail TD Shane Cassells which has called for for the setting up of a Commission to examine the restoration of budgetary autonomy to towns like Sligo and Dundalk which lost out in local government mergers and she believes Wexford should be included.
Deputy Cassells called the abolition of town councils a ‘butchery’ of democracy and said affected towns no longer have ringfenced budgets or dedicated officials to provide ‘vision and purpose’.
The creation of four districts in County Wexford which expanded Wexford town into a larger district incoporating outlying areas as far as Rosslare and Kilmore Quay, has led to a change in the profile of councillors representing the town.
Three of Wexford’s councillors live in the town - George Lawlor, Anthony Kelly and David Hynes - and the remainder live in the rural district.
It is only right that councillors would fight for better resources for their own areas but this means an imbalance of representation for the largest area of population and the business, shopping and cultural centre.
Cllr. McDonald said Ballycogley and Barntown have ‘state-of-the-art’ footpaths and that’s fantastic for people in those areas but the Borough area is being neglected.
‘A capital town the size of Wexford needs its own budget. It can’t take from the expenditure for rural Wexford. If there was money to ensure the streets and the footpaths were kept in repair, the town would look nicer, business people would be happy and people coming into town to shop would be happy.’ ‘Wexford is one of the areas that requires its own budget. If it did, you wouldn’t have rural councillor against town councillor and it would remove disharmony,’ said Cllr. McDonald who lives in the rural district and has a legal practice in the centre of town.
A CAPITAL TOWN THE SIZE OF WEXFORD NEEDS ITS OWN BUDGET