Aontú Cllr in the Wexford People: Kilmore Footpath Failures Leaves 'Open Wound' in Community
Kilmore footpath failure leaves ‘open wound’ in community
Failure to deliver footpaths to the people of Kilmore Village has created an “open wound” between the local community and Wexford County Council (WCC) according to one local councillor. Discussing the failure to complete a project which had first been mooted many years, Councillor Jim Codd said WCC needed to honour a decision it had made on the delivery of this project.
“At some point the people in Kilmore Village were told they were going to get a footpath and we have to make some attempt to honour what they were told,” said Cllr Codd. “We can’t mislead them and tell them this is going to happen and then not do it, they were told this was going to happen and they are very annoyed about it. “
However, Roads Engineer Mark Collins said this development wasn’t currently top of WCC’s list and other more pressing concerns had to be addressed first. “There were planning applications along that stretch of road in Kilmore Village to leave corridors for footpaths there,” he said. “We had to look at what the footpaths were servicing, we are trying to link estates and services, shops, pedestrian crossings, chemists, so you have to consider where you put your footpaths. We need to see how many footpaths are affected and consider the validity of putting a footpath in that location, I’m not trying to detract from the need of the road safety issues, but there are other priorities out there.”
Although WCC has offered to refund those who paid towards the planning permission license, Cllr Codd said the preferred option remained the delivery of the footpaths. “I’m disappointed to hear we have no intention of finishing what was promised to the people of Kilmore Village,” he said. “What I would really like to see there is us put the footpaths in. In many ways this is an open wound between the people and the council.”
