Kilkenny lanes must wait years for resurfacing - big business should chip in, councillor suggests

Certain lanes in North Kilkenny will have to wait up to 20 years before they will be resurfaced, such is the length of the list in the area, a local councillor has said.

Cllr Michael McCarthy says the mathematics are evident for all to see, and at present there are some 60 lanes on the list.

"In a normal year, three lanes are being overlayed hence the potential wait of two decades," Cllr McCarthy said.

"Despite repeated requests to the Department for additional funding, no major funding has been forthcoming. We in the Castlecomer Municipal Area are in the unique and unenvious position of having by a distance the greatest number of lanes waiting in the county if not the country.

"I for one am of the strong opinion the time has come for the respective commercial companies be they state or private to make a financial contribution towards the overall cost. Take Tirlán, for example, with their massive fleet of trucks carrying between 30-40 tonne loads, and also Coillte with equally heavy goods."

Cllr McCarthy says that despite the best efforts of the area's municipal engineer and his outdoor staff, the whole programme is unsustainable unless additional help and funding become available.

"I recently made a representation for a lane that was in an atrocious condition. During the repair work, 20 tonnes of tar was used, and I believe it will take two more loads to complete this particular lane," he said.

"At that current rate of progress, it will take another eight years for this particular lane to be overlayed, at that stage it will probably not be useable. This is emerging to be a major problem and needs some radical solution."

The North Kilkenny councillor has asked that the matter be put on the agenda for the January meeting of the Castlecomer Municipal District for proper debate.

"I would request in the meantime that our Director Martin Prendiville would ask for a senior management representative from the two above named companies to attend a meeting as soon as possible to discuss the issue of financial contributions," he said.