Light at the end of the tunnel for that Dublin Road path
LOUTH AND MEATH CC AGREE THAT PROGESS MUST BE MADE ON PROJECT
THE long running saga of the unfinished path, linking the Dublin Road with the town - and vice versa - could be coming to a conclusion.
There has been a war of words between both Louth and Meath County Councils over the unfinished stretch of pathway from the Deepforde estate in Meath and the nearby Five Oaks estate in Louth.
Louth recently said that the path would mainly service people living in Co Meath and they didn’t have the funding for it.
Meath claimed it was a necessary piece of infrastructure and it was situated in County Louth.
Executive Engineer Christy Clarke confirmed at an area meeting of the Laytown/Bettystown area last week that talks had taken place between Transport and Infrastrucure in both counties and they had looked at the ‘scope of works’ involved.
He said they had agreed on progress and it was a matter of looking at funding.
Head of Finance, Fiona Lawless then revealed that Meath were willing to put money towards the path to get it done.
‘Even if it’s not in the county, we’ll do something to help the residents,’ she stated.
Cllr Tom Kelly asked why had development levies in Louth not been used to finish the path.
With the Fleadh Cheoil coming to the town, Cllr Sharon Keogan said she thought that Louth would be keen to connect the two counties with the pathway. ‘ We have showed goodwill with this,’ she explained.
Cllr Sharon Tolan likened Engineer Christy Clarke to Kofi Annan for his diplomatic approach to solving the debate.
‘I think negativity with our partners is not good,’ she added.
Eimear Ferguson, who asked for an update on the oath, also felt that councillors in Louth were doing their bit to get the work done.
‘I’m delighted to see efforts are being made,’ Cathaoirleach Paddy Meade remarked.
But he was sharply critical of Louth’s approach.
‘A year ago they were trying to take over a part of our county,’ he stormed.
‘I drive the roads around Ladycross in Collon, and Ardee and Tullyallen and they are in pieces. Maybe we should take over all of the Louth coast!’
Mayor of Drogheda, Pio Smith, says he’s been working on this project since 2014 after residents notified him of the need to access South Gate in a safe manner from Five Oaks.
‘In December 2014 my motion at the Drogheda Borough Municipal District calling for a footpath at this location was agreed by all councillors.
‘ Following recent discussions between Meath County Council and Louth County Council representatives, agreement has been reached in principle on the provision of a footpath. A detailed design and tender documents will now be prepared and the project will proceed to tender in the coming months. The delivery of the project will then be re-assessed at that stage.
‘ This is one of a number of opportunities for joint co-operation under consideration by the two local authorities.”
Cllr Kevin Callan remarked, ‘ The burden rests on all of us working in local government to get this project started. It is ridiculous that a county boundary is causing such a delay.