Areas of the Wetlands in Shannon have been omitted from the area’s grass cutting contract, a local representative has flagged.
The Shannon Wetland Restoration Project is a community initiative undertaken by members of Dúchas na Sionna, Shannon Tidy Towns and Shannon Men’s Shed as well as other interested individuals.
Since 2016, this committee has been working behind the scenes and commenced work on clearing some of the conifers that have been drying the site and pond construction. The project has always been envisaged to be completed in stages over the next few years as funding becomes available.
Included in the plan is a pond, an outdoor nature classroom, a bird hide, footpath and cycleway. The aim is to return the area to its original wetland state thus enhancing biodiversity and creating an attractive local amenity for all.
In a proposal before the Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) asked that the cutting of grass along the paths in the Wetlands form part of the grass cutting contract. “So far this work has been carried out by volunteers, which isn’t always feasible,” she remarked.
Senior executive engineer, Tom Mellett detailed that the Shannon MD office are “exploring ways to ensure existing footpath widths are maintained”. He added, “This path is one of several in the town where vegetation has encroached onto the surface thereby narrowing the effective width, unfortunately the Office does not currently have the resources to remedy each path in this condition and so must prioritise based on use”.
Mellett committed to arranging a crew to edge the path as requested and acknowledged the “stellar effort of different community groups when it comes to issues such as this”.
Children in buggies are among those at risk with unkept parts of the Wetlands “going right into your face,” Cllr McGettigan highlighted. She stressed the need to give back to the volunteers looking after the “widely used” Wetlands.
“We have a lot of footpaths that have narrowed in with briars and such. It is a serious situation, if you have footpaths then the public are entitled to use them,” Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) stated as he supported the proposal.
