‘Bad deterioration” of footpaths at a unique housing estate in Newmarket-on-Fergus are forcing wheelchair bound residents onto the road.
A request for Clare County Council to repair footpaths throughout the Woodland Heights estate in Newmarket-on-Fergus was tabled before the Shannon Municipal District by Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) and supported by Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND).
As work on the preparation of the Shannon MD’s annual footpath maintenance contract continues, senior executive engineer Tom Mellett confirmed that “this estate will be included for assessment”. He added, “If large scale works are required, the Municipal District Office will prepare an application under an appropriate grant scheme for 2022”.
Speaking at a meeting of the Shannon MD, Cllr McMahon described Woodland Heights as “a unique estate” and added, “every single house in the estate was built individually”. Persons living there come from “different backgrounds, a lot of people are retired with some having extreme medical issues, there is a very steep hill but there are very good people there who have served their area very well”.
According to the Cathaoirleach of the Shannon MD, it was “not fair for people with medical issues” that the condition of the footpaths has shoved them onto the road of the only entrance and exit point to the estate.
