Choose between repairing roads or drains, council told
The stark warning was delivered by the county manager, Martin Riordan, after more than 20 county councillors pleaded with him to tackle the damage caused by repeated torrential rain.
Mr Riordan said the budget he had been given could either go on clearing roadside drains or into repairing damaged roads, but insisted he could not afford to do both.
Cllr Donal O’Rourke (FF) described how the West Cork region’s sole national secondary road, the N71 (Cork-Bandon) was impassable at Halfway last Friday, while Leap-based Cllr Adrian Healy (FG) said a 93-year-old neighbour had to be lifted out of her flooded house in a chair by two gardaí. The road in front of her home was washed away.
Many councillors said the public was getting extremely nervous looking at the forecast for the week ahead.
Standing orders were suspended at the meeting in County Hall to discuss the matter, after Cllr Noel O’Donovan (FG) said the situation was unacceptable.
The meeting heard Cllr Christopher O’Sullivan (FF) describe how Clonakilty “had been on a knife edge” for hours and its residents resigned to a repeat of the cataclysmic flooding of Jun 28 last.
Cllr Dermot O’Shea said several roads in the Goleen area had been destroyed, while Courtmacsherry- based Cllr John O’Sullivan said he saw a boat being used near Barryroe Co-op.
Many more councillors spoke of flooding incidents and during the meeting Cllrs John O’Sullivan and Michael Creed (FG) both said they’d received further calls about flood damage.
Mr Riordan said council workers had received 79 call-outs last weekend but, fortunately, only a handful related to flooded homes or businesses.
“The public needs to understand you can’t get blood out of a stone. We’re at the pin of our collar still trying to make up for 2009 flooding,” he said.
Mr Riordan said he had to cope with an embargo on recruiting outdoor staff and his engineers didn’t have a budget which would cover both repairing roads and cleaning drains and ditches.
“When the area engineers get call-outs over weekends it eats into their budget. I accept we should look for more [money from Government] and we will make a case for it,” he said.
Councillors, Mr Riordan said, could decide at a forthcoming meeting whether they wanted gullies cleared or roads repaired in their areas. “It will be one or the other unless we get more money,” he said.
