Active Travel remains on the agenda in West Waterford
There was an air of despondency recently at the Dungarvan Lismore District meeting as Active Travel funds for the area were a hot topic once again.
Pointing to a project in the Metropolitan district which had been allocated some €200,000 in funding under the scheme only to be later shot down, local councillors expressed their surprise and called for the funding to be utilised within the Dungarvan Lismore District.
Raising the matter at last week’s meeting, Cllr John Pratt highlighted that there are three ‘shovel-ready’ projects within the Dungarvan Lismore electoral area and said that the district would be ‘delighted’ to put the funds to use.
“We have been seen to deliver on the ground on Active Travel projects and I’m sure we can deliver again. We should be writing and making enough noise about the fact that there is funding out there outstanding and I think, if at all possible, we should get the advantage of using it,” Cllr Pratt said.
Supporting the call, Cllr Damien Geoghegan said he was ‘shocked’ to see the scheme being knocked and said that the Dungarvan Lismore area would accept the reallocation of funds ‘with a heart and a half’.
‘WE WILL KEEP ASKING’
Senior Engineer with Waterford City and County Council, Gabriel Hynes, responded to the councillors’ call stating: “Unfortunately the NTA doesn’t work like that”.
According to Mr Hynes, the NTA approves each scheme in isolation and stated that one scheme not receiving approval does not mean that the funding can be allocated elsewhere.
Adding to the discussion, Cllr Mairead Tobin said she hoped that the situation in the Metropolitan District would not reflect poorly on other areas in Waterford and she hoped to see projects in Tallow completed.
Mr Hynes confirmed that there are a number of schemes ‘shovel-ready’ in the Dungarvan Lismore District, namely in Ballinroad, Aglish and Ardmore.
“I can assure you from an executive point of view we will keep asking the NTA and if and when funding becomes available, we will be in a position to progress those schemes,” he said.