The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
SOME of the town’s issues with flooding could be alleviated if the County Council cleaned out the local storm water infrastructure a councillor has claimed.
Councillor Gerry Flynn put forward a motion at the Shannon Municipal District’s March meeting asking that the Council clean out all the storm water infrastructure in the town.
He claimed a lack of necessary maintenance is causing a lot of flooding issues throughout Shannon and deemed the current Council policy to be “reactionary”.
“I believe a more proactive approach is necessary to improve this facility as a lot of necessary gullies and silt channels are restricted and are less effective due to the lack of regular maintenance.”
A written response from Senior Executive Engineer Tom Mellett claimed that doing the work suggested is already a priority and that a lot has been done.
“Recent weather events have highlighted what is an ongoing concern for this office.
“In relation to drainage works the Shannon Municipal District Office is responsible for maintaining the public storm water network. The office is proactive in this role.
“During November 2020 a specialist contractor working alongside our crews investigated and cleared the drains in urban areas of the Municipal District.
“In addition to this throughout November, December and January our own crews engaged in clearing drains associated with public roads in rural areas of this district.
“Drainage issues are a key concern of this office and we will continue to be pre-emptive in this area.”
However, Councillor Flynn claimed that in a number of areas the channels have not been addressed, and it has caused significant problems.
Also at this week’s meeting, Councillor Flynn looked for improvements to be made in some of the older parts of the town.
In a motion he stated, “I am calling on Clare County Council to remove all the grass verges situated around the internal grass areas in Boyne Park/Lee Park/Moy Park/Slaney Park/Allen Park/Carragh Park and Foyle Park in the Drumgeely area.
“This is the older part of Shannon town and it needs some attention as a lot of the residents in these areas are the pioneers of the development of the Shannon community, and their area needs enhancement.”
A written reply from Mr Mellett stated, “The Municipal District Office will have crews ‘edging’ public footpaths throughout the district in the coming months.
“The aim is to restore the paths to their original widths. The paths you have nominated will be assessed and included where necessary.”
Councillor Flynn said the sooner the work is done the better, and the Council shouldn’t wait “till half a path is left”.
He said that if the work is done sooner rather than later it could result in a long-term saving, as paths won’t need to be replaced.
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
