County Council won’t have the funds to maintain grass-cutting
The time is coming when Galway County Council simply will not have the resources to cut the grass in estates – with this responsibility reverting to individual householders.
The warning was issued by a senior engineer with Galway County Council who told a meeting that they would not be taking responsibility for grass cutting in estates which they planned to take in charge from now on.
And Senior Engineer Damien Mitchell said that their maintenance budget had been cut back to such an extent that it was possible that residents in estates would have to take responsibility for the cutting of grass in green communal areas.
He made his remarks during a discussion on grass cutting and general maintenance of estates at a meeting of Ballinasloe Municipal Council. Mr Mitchell issued the warning that the amount of grass cutting carried out by the Council could be scaled back considerably.
He was responding to queries from Sinn Fein’s Cllr Dermot Connolly who said that there was a serious deterioration of grass cutting in estates last year and added that the matter needed to be addressed urgently.
Cllr Connolly said that some estates were left “in a dire condition” and demanded that funds be made available for regular grass cutting.
He said that there did not seem to be a similar problem in Galway city and asked why there was such a shortfall when it came to the county.
Independent Cllr Timmy Broderick asked for a full list of estates that are included in the grass cutting programme and could not understand why some estates are precluded from this service.
“It is contradictory that we are taking estates in charge and not cutting their grass. I was always under the impression that when we took estates in charge we took them fully in charge,” Cllr Broderick added.
But Mr Mitchell said that the Council’s maintenance budget was “very poor” and he did not anticipate that there would be any improvement in the near future. He added that he did not know how long they would be able to maintain the current service.
The meeting in Ballinasloe was told that there would be a total of 14 cuts in estates that are currently being maintained between the months of May and October. However, the Council would not be taking responsibility for grass cutting in new estates that were being taken in charge.
Mr Mitchell warned that residents in estates may have to take responsibility for grass cutting if the Council’s budget continued to be eroded.
“I don’t know how long we will be able to provide the current service and we are looking at a situation in which residents may have to take responsibility for their green areas,” he added.
Cllr Donal Burke (FF) bemoaned the loss of Ballinasloe Town Council and said that when it was in existence, there was an adequate budget for grass cutting in and around the town.
“The abolition of the Town Council was a retrograde step as it had its own budget for essential maintenance of estates which no longer seems to exist. It is vital that the maintenance budget be restored and particularly when it comes to new estates that are being taken in charge,” Cllr Burke added.