COUNCIL REPORT
Barrack Street road surface needs upgrade
A Sligo town road in need of upgrade work is to be considered for the next roads programme.
Cllr Gino O’Boyle put a motion forward at Monday’s meeting of Sligo County Council calling for resurfacing of Barrack Street.
Acting director of services Emer Concannon said that the street is not included on the current multi-annual roads programme but will be considered for the 2022-2024 programme.
Cllr O’Boyle said he appreciates that nothing can be done right now, but asked that it be kept on the agenda as the road, particularly the speed bumps, are in need of repair.
Crossing possibility for Carraroe
A thorough investigation of a busy area in Carraroe is to be carried out to determine if a pedestrian crossing can be installed.
Cllr Thomas Walsh asked a meeting of Sligo County Council this week if provision can be made for a crossing at Carraroe centre linking he car park of Carraroe Church to the car park of Carraroe National School and Well Pet Hospital to “make this busy area safer.”
“This is a very dangerous and busy area. There is not a safe way for anyone to cross the road at the national school, an assessment needs to be carried out.”
The motion was supported by cllrs Marie Casserly, Thomas Healy and Rosaleen O’Grady.
Acting director of services Emer Concannon said an investigation will be carried out but that the area provides “challenging design criteria”. “The issue of pedestrian linkage between the Carraroe Church car park and the school car park can be investigated. It should be noted that this junction caters for a large volume of traffic and has complicated vehicular turning movements. It provides a number of challenging design criteria and the best possible intervention will need to be determined.”
N17 route will be announced in December
The preferred route selection for the N17 roads project is to be announced by December of this year.
It was confirmed at a meeting of Sligo County Council following a request for an update from Cllr Marie Casserly on the project.
Acting director of services Emer Concannon said that a non-statutory consultation period took place from late 2020 to early 2021 during which time submissions from the public were encouraged. In total, 521 submissions were received by the project team during this time. Each submission was reviewed and referred where necessary to various experts.
Preliminary assessment for routes on the long list of options has been ongoing and is now in the conclusion phase. This will be followed in the coming weeks by a design review of the more desireable options and an examination of the opportunity for optimisation in various different locations.
It is intended that the next non-statutory public consultation associated with those refined options will take place this summer and a preferred option will be selected by the end of the year.
The report was welcomed by Cllr Sinéad Maguire who asked that a provision of a cycle be considered in chosen route.
Cllr Paul Taylor also welcomed the report and said the public should be acknowledged for their patience during this important process.
Opinion on gaming will be sought
The public will again be asked for their opinion on gaming in Sligo following a recent discussion among county councillors.
The issue was brought before members of the Sligo Borough District on Monday morning where they were asked to consider their intention to commence the process of adopting Part III of the Gaming and Lotteries Act
1956 in respect of Shore Road, Strandhill, and Ted Nealon Road, Sligo.
The proposal has been met with fierce opposition in some quarters with previous claims that this would “open the floodgates” for gambling halls to operate in Sligo.
The councillors agreed to a motion from Cllr Declan Bree that would allow two established gaming venues at the aforementioned streets to continue operating.
Cllr Tom MacSharry said he remains opposed to adopting the act as he expressed his concern that applications for gambling which are refused under the legislation could then be appealed to An Bord Pleanala and subsequently be brought to the District Court. Cllr Bree said that councillors are not keen on seeing gambling halls open across Sligo and that this motion was brought forward to protect the existing businesses on Ted Nealon Road and Shore Road.
He said that the businesses should be allowed to continue to operate and that he has not been aware of any complaints against them since they began operating 15 years ago.
“We know from the consultative process carried out in February that there were concerns about the possibility of arcade operators seeking to fill empty properties with gambling halls and install slot machines in a whole host of different locations in pubs and shopping centres,” he said. “These were real and genuine concerns which I believe we had to take seriously. “I don’t think any councillor would wish to see gambling halls opening up all over the place or slot machines appearing in shopping centres, pubs and shops.
“What the motion before us proposes to do is to take on board the valid concerns we have heard from people and to allow only the two existing gaming businesses which have been operating in the Sligo/Strandhill electoral area over the past 15 years, to continue to operate.”
“By all accounts both of the establishments are operated responsibly and in addition they employ quite a number of local people. As I said before I have never received a complaint about either establishment.”
The matter will now go out to public consultation.
Benches in Strandhill need to be painted
The benches at the promenade in Strandhill are expected to be painted ahead of the busy tourism season. A motion was before Sligo County Council from Cllr Tom MacSharry asking if restorative works, including painting, can be carried out at the sea front in Strandhill.
Emer Concannon, acting director of services with the council, said an inspection of the promenade will be conducted and any necessary work will be carried out in the coming weeks.
Cllr MacSharry welcomed the report and, as this was an adjourned meeting, said that since the original May meeting was held he understands that the work is due to take place.
The motion was supported by Cllr Rosaleen O’Grady who said this kind of work should happen on a more regular basis and suggested that bin collections should also be reviewed ahead of the busy months.