Council: ‘We don’t have €50m needed for path repairs’

A local authority is putting its hands up and admits to not having an estimated €50m to repair crumbling footpaths.

A priority maintenance list is being prepared for proposed footpath works in Co Cork.

It emerged yesterday that an increasing number of claims are being lodged against Cork County Council amid concerns that footpath repairs have been neglected.

At a meeting in County Hall yesterday, Cllr Deirdre Forde (FG) called for “a root-and-branch assessment of the condition of footpaths throughout the county” so the full scale of the problem can be ascertained.

Officials had announced in January that €1m would be earmarked for footpath repairs in about 80 housing estates.

It had been the first major funding specifically announced for footpath maintenance for many years.

However, Declan Daly, the acting county manager, revealed that a survey carried out in the Carrigaline electoral area, alone, showed €6.3m would be needed for footpath repairs.

He said it was likely the cost could be replicated in eight other municipal areas — bringing the bill to about €50m.

Mr Daly admitted that the council cannot afford to carry out such repairs.

Cllr Seamus McGrath (FF) said the proposed €1m investment was “miniscule” compared to what was needed to bring footpaths up to an acceptable standard.

Cllr Martin Coughlan (Lab) spoke of the appalling state of footpaths in one Macroom estate. “I was in an estate where there was a foot-deep crater in the footpath. A lady living there said she couldn’t push her wheelchair-bound husband on the footpaths as they were so bad and had to take him out onto the road instead.”

Ms Forde, meanwhile, said there must be many people who have tripped and hurt themselves on footpaths and she said she would be seeking a comprehensive report on how much had been paid out in compensation.

Cllr John O’Sullivan (FG) said it was obvious that a priority list had to be put in place.

County mayor Noel O’Connor (FG) said the council recently took over the running of 170 former private estates and he was concerned where funding for repairs would come from.

Mr Daly advised insurance bonds provided by developers who did not complete estates could be accessed for such work.

Cllr Barbara Murray (FG) said a new system should be introduced to carry out footpath repairs at the same time as resurfacing of adjoining roadways. “There’s an expectation out there the local property tax was to be used for such things. We’re going to have to do something about it,” she said.