THE patience of public representatives in Dunmanway is wearing thin because the town was omitted – for the third time – from an important flood report.
Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind) and Cllr Deirdre Kelly (FF) expressed their displeasure at a recent meeting of the Western Committee. After politely making the point that Dunmanway, yet again, wasn’t included in the engineer’s report, Cllr Hurley called on Cork County Council to ‘show real commitment and to give a real guarantee that flood prevention works at Chapel Street will be done before the end of the year.
‘There seems to be a relaxed approach to resolving this problem because no reports have been presented to the members,’ said Cllr Hurley.
He complained that residents and motorists have had to contend with a very bad road surface that cannot be improved until subterranean flood relief works, including a new culvert, are carried out.
Such is the deplorable condition of the main thoroughfare that Cllr Hurley likened it to ‘driving over the Giants Causeway.
‘Motorists pay their motor tax and deserve a proper road and they want a proper road surface on their Main Street,’ he added.
Cllr Deirdre Kelly made the point that she had emailed Cork County Council in advance of the meeting, yet Dunmanway still did not feature in the report.
‘Dunmanway has been flooded three times in the past year and it is important that it would feature strongly in every report,’ she added.
Cllr Kelly accepted an undertaking by the county engineer that the bi-monthly flood report will be amended before it is circulated to public representatives and within the Council’s own departments.
‘This work needs to be expedited if for no other reason than to allay the anxieties of the residents in the affected areas,’ she said.
Council engineer’s Kevin Morey and Levin Costello acknowledged that Dunmanway was not included in the report because the new culvert is being done in conjunction with the Council’s roads department, but they said it will be included in future.
