Nothing in coffers for West Clare road-patching machine

ALTHOUGH the six West Clare area county councillors have proposed to add another road-patching machine to the county council’s stock in the region, the local authority cannot afford to do so. There are currently two patching units available for the 1,200km of West Clare roads. In previous years, up to four units were utilised.

“We cannot afford, at the moment, to deploy any additional patching units,” council engineer Cyril Feeney told councillors at Monday’s Kilrush Electoral Area Meeting.
However, several councillors expressed fears that potholes in West Clare would soon rival their predecessors in the 1980s in terms of their size.
“We can’t go back to the 1980s and the 1990s with the potholes,” Kilkee councillor Pat Keane said.
“It’s important when potholes are small to repair them before they become craters,” he added.
Kildysart councillor Oliver Garry concurred and said that large swathes of potholes in West Clare remained untreated.
“There’s a huge amount of bad patches on local roads that haven’t been touched yet,” he stated.
Councillor Christy Curtin suggested that a patching unit should be located at every county council depot in West Clare, while Councillor Bill Chambers said that a new unit would save money.
“The patching unit is vital at the moment. In the long term, it would spare money,” he maintained.
However, Mr Feeney stressed the council’s inability to pay for a fully staffed additional patching vehicle.
“With the current recruitment embargo in the public sector, it may not be feasible to utilise additional patching unit vehicles with the resources, both financial and human, which are currently available,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Councillor Gabriel Keating said that patches of the Derryard to Shragh road were so bad that a woman who lives there cannot bring home her turf.
“We were approached by this lady and she said she is not able to bring home her turf,” he said, recalling a conversation Councillor Keating and Councillor Keane had with the woman in question.
“It’s a road that’s used quite a bit,” he noted.
In reply, Mr Feeney said that no road works will be carried out on the road this year, while any future improvement works will be subject to adequate money being available.