Council to review cold snap response amid rural concerns

CLARE County Council is to review its response to the recent period of cold weather after concern was expressed over the impact on rural communities.
At the council’s January meeting, there was praise from across the chamber for the ‘phenomenal’ job done by council crews in making roads and footpaths across the county safe and passable.
The meeting was told the council’s response to the cold snap was above the national average for winter maintenance.
The meeting also heard calls to ensure communities in rural areas of the county aren’t left on the “periphery”.
Pat Dowling, CEO of Clare County Council, told the meeting it was “unrealistic” to expect every road and footpath in the county to be treated.
He said, “We will always respond. We will always try and be as comprehensive as possible but to think that every footpath and every bit of tar on every road will be dealt with and made safe and passable, is not a realistic expectation, particularly in the context of the severity of winter and how long it might go on. We will always be trying to do as much as we possibly can. I just think we need to be realistic.”.
Carmel Kirby, director of physical development, said the 12-day cold snap “had a huge draw on resources”.
She continued, “There were some learnings and took all of your requests into consideration as well as we could. There definitely are some learnings. We are due to have meetings with the municipal districts senior executives. As I said, there were learnings. We did what we could. We have a few ideas on how we could spread the resources out a little bit more so we can get the best out of what we have available”.
The issue of winter maintenance of the county’s roads was raised in a motion submitted by councillors Cillian Murphy (FF), Shane Talty (FF), Ian Lynch (Ind), Joe Killeen (FF), Joe Garrihy (FG) and Tony O’Brien (FF),
It stated “Given the significant difficulties faced by many of our rural communities in the recent icy conditions, that an immediate review is conducted of what constitutes a “strategic regional route” under the winter service plans with a view to including extra routes under Priority 2 (Plan B)”
In reply,  John Leahy, senior engineer roads and transportation, stated,
“The winter maintenance plan in Clare County Council is reviewed annually and a full strategic review is completed every three years. Currently, all of the national routes, regional roads with higher traffic volumes (strategic regional routes) and some busy local primaries are treated. During the recent long cold snap in December, priority 3 routes were treated twice each day. Priority 3 covers all routes on winter maintenance plan and includes both priority 1 and priority 2 routes. This comprises of 17% of the network in Clare which carries approximately 70% of the traffic volume in Clare. This is significant coverage and is above the national average. With this winter maintenance plan, Clare is operating at full capacity over its seven winter maintenance salting routes. A further review will take place in the coming months which will include a review of the recent cold snap and concerns raised. We will also review local arrangements and where we can make further improvements to coverage in the municipal districts.
Welcoming the reply, Cllr Murphy told the meeting he understood the strains on budgets and equipment
“But to be honest I’m not at all happy at how this process seems to leave communities on the periphery”, he added
Cllr Murphy continued, “There are a number of routes across the county that seem to provide critical, key transport corridors for communities. And just because they have lower population densities they are written out of the picture. And when they do have lower population densities, it does leave them at far more risk of isolation than other communities. I had a call from the secondary school in Kilkee about public transport not being available because it was unsafe. But the school was open. So instead of having one school bus coming in, it had 35-40 cars. I know that the roads were done. It’s not good enough that they’re done on an ad-hoc basis. They need to be part of a programme”.
Cllr Talty (FF) thanked council staff for their efforts during the cold snap.
He continued, “I note from the reply that we are above the national average, which is welcome, but I’d like to think we’d be above the national average in whatever we do”.
Cllr Lynch praised council staff for their “absolutely phenomenal work-rate” and said he welcomed the review.
“If we moved away from strategic regional routes and called them transport corridors, it might be a better idea”, he said.