THE mayor of the Letterkeny Milford MD, Donal Mandy Kelly, on Tuesday called for work to be carried out to footpaths and overhanging hedges in an effort to reduce the payout of claims in relation to these.
This week the Donegal News published the figures for claims against the council regarding footpaths to date this year which totalled €366,675 for the first half of this year. The total for 2021 was €244,621.
“I have been made aware of the payout of claims and some of the figures given are absolutely ridiculous. We need to be knuckling down to reduce these figures. What is being paid out is scary. If even half of that amount was out into repairing and maintaining footpaths it would make a huge difference. I am asking that inspections be carried out,” he said.
Seconding the motion Cllr Ciaran Brogan commented that the council seem to be down some outdoor staff.
“We need a full audit of all the footpaths in the MD,” Cllr Brogan added.
Roads Engineer David McElwaine told the meeting that maintenance for footpaths is the same as for roads.
“If we concentrated on footpaths we will have a knock on effect on roads. We are looking for additional staff,” he added.
He reminded the members that where land is under private ownership the maintenance of the hedges is the responsibility of the land owner.
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