Louth County Council don’t deserve to get a rough time all the time
THE past few weeks have been tough for Louth County Council - no question about that.
The debacle with the pay parking in Drogheda led to further debate over the systems that operate in the council, about the level of service, accountability, etc.
I was at a Let’s Talk Drogheda meeting in the Barbican recently and it was a former councillor, Hugh Conlon from Dunleer in fact, who raised an excellent point.
He said the issues that now impact on Drogheda came when it lost its seat of administration some years ago, the county council now calling the shots on everything, rather than the Borough Council working within its own budget, headed by a town clerk.
That decision was taken at government level, not by Louth CC.
The council is a wide ranging organisation, responsible for millions and millions in respect of budgeting to run the county and all its elements, year after year.
Those leading the organisation have to realise it will always be a thankless job - they’ll rarely get plaudits - (apart from filling in a few potholes, thanks in advance!) and most of the time they’ll be blasted for not collecting this, not repairing that, failing to do A, B and C.
But those Let’s Talk Drogheda meetings opened eyes in many ways about what is actually happening out there.
A lot of the problems - dumping in public areas, graffiti, etc, - are done by citizens.
People can complain that the council ‘should be cleaning up the place’ - but they must get totally frustrated by that.
If they constantly clean up black bags from beside a rubbish bin, then it will become acceptable and they’ll have to do it all the time.
The council can help themselves in many ways by adopting a more pro-active approach to key issues, rather than waiting for a reaction from what people feel is lack of action.
They have a thankless job and that will never change. They need to look at the small victories and take pride from those.
The housing section in Louth County Council is one of the most progressive in the country.
Everybody wants to be housed of course, but the Joe McGuinness led crew are doing more than most to tackle the issues - with the compulsory purchase of vacant properties something they have mastered.
Even Fr Peter McVerry has praised them for their initiative - so well done.
In the coming months, we’ll have pay parking back. But now is the time for the council to take a deep breath and listen to the concerns raised.
One that they should consider deeply is a section of ‘Residents Only Parking’ on the Windmill Road because they - above all - face daily issues on that street.
Time for the council to be inventive and hope they will. I