Call for 'goodwill gesture' to fill potholes on rural Mayo roads

A one-year amnesty for the council to fill potholes on rural roads that it maintained in former years has been requested.

It relates to roads that were tarred and improved under programmes such as LIS (Local Improvement Scheme) in years past but were never taken in charge by the council. Yet, some were maintained over the years, up until last year.

There is confusion, says Councillor Chris Maxwell, with some people having understood that their roads were taken over by the local authority when they weren't. And they cannot understand why they are no longer being maintained, he said.

Receiving representations about the matter 'every day', the Louisburgh councillor appealed to Mayo County Council, as a 'gesture of goodwill', to fill the potholes on these roads this year.

People, he said, assumed that once they were tarred they were council roads and would be maintained, which is what happened up until last year.

He asked that as a gesture of goodwill, the council would go out and fill the potholes this year and then see if they can come up with a long-term solution for the people affected.

It would give people hope, that they're not forgotten about, and that the taxes they pay are doing some good for them.

His call was supported by Councillor Brendan Mulroy who appreciated that they are private roads. But, he pointed out, if they went in with LIS money they would still be private roads.

He had seen letters from years ago written by former politicians saying a road was taken over when it never was.

Councillor Paul McNamara said LIS funding wasn't enough, describing the scheme as 'a disaster', and funding needs to be trebled.

Last year each councillor received about €22,000 each, he pointed out, and with 10 to 12 applications on his list alone, some of those roads will never see a bit of tar. One road on his list alone will cost €75,000 to upgrade.

* Published under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme