To school through the floods at Ballindooley Cross!

CHILDREN living near Ballindooley Cross are being forced to walk through deep water to reach their school bus due to the poor condition of a privately maintained road, according to Fine Gael Cllr Frank Fahy, who has pledged to bring the issue before the city council.

Cllr Fahy said families living along the road had been trying to have it taken in charge by the local authority since 2011, but the route remained outside the council’s official schedule of public roads.

“Kids living there cannot walk to the school bus without wading through two feet of water,” he said at a Central Local Area Committee meeting.

“There is no maintenance because it’s considered a private road. That is simply not acceptable.”

He argued that residents feel they were being treated unfairly compared to others in the city even though they paid the same local contributions and planning fees as other households in the city.

“They are not asking for a lot. They simply want the road resurfaced so people can safely get in and out of their homes.”

According to Cllr Fahy, the road serves five or six homes, including elderly residents and young families who have moved to the area in recent years.

“It’s a rural area within the city boundary,” he said. “There are older people living there and also young families with children and grandchildren.”

Council officials told the meeting that the local authority would not normally add substandard roads to its schedule, and that taking a road in charge was ultimately a reserved function for elected members.

They also said planning conditions attached to properties in the area would need to be examined.

However, Cllr Fahy said that the residents hadalready paid significant planning fees over the years and should see some benefit from those contributions.

“If people are paying planning fees, we should be able to facilitate them,” he said.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.