Works to begin soon on Cootehill Footpaths
Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan and Monaghan Niamh Smyth says she is delighted that works are imminent on new footpaths for Cootehill Town.
Deputy Smyth said, “The people of Cootehill have waited a long time for these works to start, but the day is almost upon us. I have campaigned long and hard for this day and I’m delighted that Cootehill businesses and pedestrians going forward will have the infrastructure they deserve to conduct their daily business and errands in the town. It’s important that key infrastructure like this be maintained and improved all the time within our towns or villages.”
“It’s in the interests of everybody. It’s for our elderly walking to the local GP; pedestrians who like going out for a walk; for parents walking their children to school safely and for accessibility for people and children with disabilities using these footpaths daily. As a public representative in Cavan I walked the footpaths with local residents in both Cootehill and Shercock to see exactly the situation they were faced with.”
“We walk footpaths everyday whether it is to work, to lunch, bringing our children to and from school or even walking to the local dentist or hairdresser. Our rate payers in towns like Cootehill and Shercock deserve this basic service. They are paying high rates and need services to reflect that. I’d like to think our street cleaners will find it easier too with this new installation as it will make their job easier. It’s something so simple but so important for ratepayers in any town.”
Deputy Smyth continued, “Footpaths are something we use every day but something we pay little attention to, unless they fall into disrepair. Businesses have enough to contend with – competing with the larger supermarkets and shopping centres , many of which have free parking and nicely slabbed shiny pavements.”
Deputy Smyth concluded, “We have all heard stories of older people afraid to walk to local shop in case they fall. Well I’m glad to say, not for much longer! I’ve been informed by Cavan County Council that works will begin in early autumn on the footpaths in Cootehill and I will continue to seek for funds for footpaths in Shercock also.”
Niamh Smyth’s speech on this issue following her motion at Cavan County Council – 2015
“Calling on Cavan County Council to conduct an appraisal of our footpaths in town centres around the county”
Monday 15th June 2015
Pedestrian safety on our main street has to be an ultimate priority for Cavan County Council if we are serious about maintaining the integrity of our town centres. After numerous calls from very concerned business people and local residents I decided to walk the footpaths with local residents in both Cootehill and Shercock to see exactly the condition of our footpaths are.
We walk footpaths everyday, going about our daily business whether going to the shops, local post office, the doctor, the bakery and even our local Municipal District Head Office as in the Cootehill. To get to any of these important destinations we must walk along a footpath.
Our rate payers in Shercock and Cootehill deserve the basic local authority service of good footpaths. Without them how can we expect businesses to thrive, how can we expect business people to continue to pay their much needed rates to keep the cogs of the wheels in motion in Cavan County Council.
One very disgruntled rate payer who contributes significantly to this council, in the rates he pays which accumulates in the region of €30k per annum, articulated to me his anger and frustration – as to why he expects better when it comes to a basic service from the council of a good and more importantly safe footpath for his customers to access his business. Unless we as a council are serious about sustaining town centres and putting a meaningful effort into addressing simple basic issues like good footpaths, clean streets, empty bins – how can we honestly expect our rate payers to hold onto and increase their customer numbers.
Remember we live in a consumer world where there is constant advertisement to entice consumers to the big out of town shopping centres where costumers don’t have to worry about paid parking, they can enjoy a roof over their head to protect them against the elements of the weather and shiny smooth walkways and hallways. That is the harsh reality facing shops in our town centres all over the county. So we are doing a huge disservice to business people of Cavan and their costumers unless we put a proper plan and real investment into the basic requirements such as good, safe clean footpaths.
The safety of our elderly in our towns, the safety of young mothers with their buggies, toddlers and perhaps even more importantly to provide a safe access for those in our communities living with disabilities and those who are wheelchair users and who are totally inhibited and prevented from accessing their our local shops and services on our main streets because of poor quality footpaths, must be a priority for us in Cavan County Council.
A number of local rate payers and shop owners in Shercock have come to me to express concern for the welfare of their costumers due to the rough and broken footpaths outside their shop doors. I have walked the footpaths in Shercock with local residents and shop owners and in particular a young woman living at the edge of the town, who is a wheelchair user, trying to live her life independently. Now that is a challenge. We began our route from her place of work in St. Partick’s National School. From there we walked towards the main street. When we reached the town centre we couldn’t safely access the local post office, or the pharmacy, or a local shop – none of the essential services that a wheelchair user would need on a daily bases. Therefore this young woman cannot lead an independent life because of the footpaths on the main street in Shercock.
In Shercock, the footpaths also pose a real danger to able bodied pedestrians and obviously wheelchair users. Significant investment needs to be made here, to provide the basic expectation to both the rate payers of the town and those supporting their local shops and business – local residents, the elderly and wheelchair users.
Cootehill and Shercock are only two examples of the issue we need to be addressing at a county level if we are serious about the safety of those supporting and shopping local. This is a major issue for our rate payers in Cootehill and Shercock. In the words of one rate payer in Cootehill ‘the council needs to priorities it spending power. While it is fantastic to see the development of the Municipal District Headquarters in the Courthouse in Cootehill which has cost in excess of €100k to install new offices space – an allocation of €22K to patch up our footpaths doesn’t make much sense” And that epitomises how the rate payers of Cootehill view it. They are very angry that the footpaths have been allowed to fall into such dangerous disrepair and want to know that a serious effort and investment will be carried out to ensure the safety of local residents and customers in their town centre. They are adamant that a patching up job isn’t sufficient, that it will take proper investment to do a proper job.
Cootehill main street is also home to Drumlin House which does fantastic work for people with disabilities in our community, finding suitable employment opportunities and work placement for the participants in their local community. Job coaches Jenine and Marie do fantastic work there, providing onsite training to participants with disabilities, who need safe footpaths to get to place of work and or their training centre which is on the main street in Cootehill. We also have the Holy Family School in Cootehill which caters for pupils with severe and profound learning disabilities. These pupils and their teachers deserve good, clean and safe footpaths also.
What I am presenting here today is no exaggeration of the frustration felt by those who have come to me about this issue and I am sure that if you are to speak with your own personnel in the rates department, they will be able to confirm to you the anger out there in these two important towns in our county. It is for that reason I would like to see an appraisal of all of our towns around the county. I would like to see a comprehensive, coherent plan with specific actions to address this issue sooner rather than later.
In conclusion, in 2013 Cavan Town won a prestigious European Tourism Award for its progressive work in making Cavan Town accessible to visitors and those with disabilities which is to be congratulated. This council invested significantly in accessibility by installing dropped kerbing, tactile paving, parking bays, multi access paths and an online access audit. The disability strategy drawn up at that time, needs to be implemented and replicated in all other towns around County Cavan. It is a basic need for town centre survival and a very basic expectation of our rate payers who play a huge role in the financial stability of this council.