Ballykeeran
1 - January 2005:
That this Council initiate the process to develop a village plan for Ballykeeran’.
Reply:
The village of Ballykeeran is within the Lough Ree High Amenity Area and an indicative area for development is indicated in that plan. The development of piped sewerage, which will serve the village, will mean that priority must be given to preparing a Local Area Plan for the village. The process of preparing a LAP for Glasson is currently underway. At the present time a LAP for Ballykeeran is not on the forward planning schedule but it will be scheduled in due course. Cllr. Keena noted that it was important that a village plan would be put in place for Ballykeeran as soon as possible.
1 - September 2004:
‘That this Council extends the village speed limit signs at Baylin, Ballykeeran, Glasson, Tubberclair, Castledaly and Ballinahowen to the boundaries of the recently adopted village envelopes and also that it draws up a plan to provide 40 mph ( 64 kph ) speed limit signs on all local roads in the Athlone Electoral area in the interest of public safety’.
Reply:
The Department of the Environment , Heritage & Local Government has set a date for the 20th January 2005 to change all speed limit signs to metric. In this regard the Department has designated a 50 mph speed limit for all non-national roads.
2 - September 2004:
When will this Council provide more litter bins in it’s area?
Reply:
The Area Director requested that specific black spots be identified and forwarded to the Area Engineer for reassessment.
3 - November 2004:
‘ Do the Executive not feel that the Athlone Electoral Area should have it’s own full time procedures and methods in place to carry out verge cutting when required on all our National, Secondary, Regional & Local roads instead of waiting for the Mullingar Area to release their machines?
Reply:
This activity is coordinated by the Director of Transportation & Infrastructure and the matter will be taken up with him to ensure a satisfactory service to the Athlone area in 2005. If necessary the Athlone area will revert to a local contractor.
4 - March 2005:
When will the village speed limit signs be extended to the boundary of the village envelopes as raised before by me?
Reply:
This matter will receive consideration when the speed limits for the County are being examined in accordance with appropriate procedures to be set out in guidelines from the Department of the Environment Heritage & Local Government.
5 - May 2005:
‘ That this Council discuss the special speed limit guidelines recently released by the Minister with the objective of making our roads safer’.
Reply:
This Council has received guidelines from the Department regarding the preparation of byelaws in this regard. A report in the matter is expected to be placed before the Transportation & Infrastructure Strategic Policy committee at their next meeting on the 8th June 2005.
6 - July 2005:
That this Council discuss the need to have development levies collected in the Athlone Electoral Area ring fenced to be spent on projects in the Athlone Electoral Area.
Reply:
This matter will be considered by the full council at it’s next meeting based on report recently circulated to the members. There is no provision for ring fencing unless they are special levies for specific projects.
7 - September 2005:
When will this Council start the process of putting special speed limits in place at all our schools and also on our local and regional roads?
Reply:
The Roads Section has prepared a procedure for the implementation of special speed limit bye-laws. It is intended that Area Committee would now identify locations where it is considered a special speed limit should apply. All identified locations throughout the County will be referred to Road Design for consideration against the special speed limit implementation policy agreed by the members at the July meeting. This will be followed by a consultative process following which the adoption of the bye-laws is a reserved function of the County Council.
8 - March 2006:
What is the status of the proposed special speed limits submitted by the Area members last Autumn?
Reply:
The Area Office is completing a survey of the speed limit locations as required by the Speed Limits Implementation Policy adopted by the members. Area Office and Road Design will liaise in advance of finalizing the recommendations for the full Council.
9 - May 2006:
Further to the excellent work carried out by this Council in erecting signage in the Athlone electoral area, can this Council now consider a programme of work erecting directional signs at all junctions on our roads in the area?
Reply:
There is an ongoing programme of replacement of directional signs on our local roads in the Athlone Area.
10 - May 2006:
When will we have a report on the proposed special speed limits for the Athlone Area?
Reply:
The Area Engineers are finalizing the proposals for 2006. Each area has had to validate many proposals as a result of the proposals received from members. This validation involves the assessment of current speeds, review of accident history and inspections of the road environment at each location. As soon as all areas have submitted their validated proposals, Road Design will commence the statutory processes for these locations. This is a countywide exercise and thus delays from any one area may cause some delay to the finalisation of draft by-laws. This is necessary because any special speed limits are affected by such by-laws. During the policy formulation process it was considered that the publication of speed limit by-laws more that once a year would not be efficient. We are expecting that this process will be completed 3 to 4 months ahead of the schedule given in the policy document.
11 - November 2006:
That this Council update it’s members on the status of the Coosan/Ballykeeran/Glasson Sewerage Scheme.
Reply:
Consultants have been appointed to prepare the final Design and Contract Documents for this scheme, which will be submitted March 2007. Currently tenders are being sought to appoint a contractor to undertake site investigation on the route of the proposed pipelines and at proposed pumping station sites. Detailed design is ongoing but may be modified based on site investigation findings.
12 - May 2007:
That this Council carry out a Local Area Plan for Ballykeeran.
Reply:
Ballykeeran is designated in the Draft County Development Plan settlement hierarchy as a settlement where limited planned growth should take place. It would be the intention of the planning department / council to prepare a framework plan to guide such future development. The carrying out of this task is not in the current years work programme. However, it is intended that it will be undertaken during 2008. Cllr. Keena stated the proposed sewerage scheme for Ballykeeran will encourage developers into the area in 2008 and this LAP is required urgently.
13 - July 2007:
That this Council surface the Ballykeeran viewing point as a matter of urgency.
Reply:
There is no funding in the 2007 budget to surface this area. The members may consider this work as part of the 2008 budget. Cllr. Keena requested priority for this proposal in 2008 should funding not become available in 2007. The Director of Services undertook to check availability of amenity moneys and examine amenity plan for this area.
14 - July 2007:
What is the delay in erecting the special speed limits signs that were adopted by the Council about six months ago?
Reply:
Athlone Area Office received details of the agreed locations from road design and will arrange the erection of these signs asap. In response to Cllr. Keena it was confirmed that the operative speed limits are as approved in the respective areas but that they are ineffective pending the erection of appropriate signage.
15 - January 2008:
That this Council tale immediate action to surface the Mullingar road near Tinker’s Cross as it is presently a major safety problem where is has sunk.
Reply:
Athlone Area Office will be undertaking remedial works in this area in the coming weeks. Cllr. Keena stressed the dangerous condition of this stretch of road and sought urgent repair and improved signage in the interim. Accepting the work was urgent the Area Engineer identified the estimate cost of work required was 50,000 euro and that the overall road maintenance budget for 2008 was 130,000 euro. The road continues to deteriorate and the works need to be carried out immediately to prevent the costs increasing even further.
16 - January 2008:
Can this Council take immediate action to widen the road from the viewing point in Ballykeeran to Ballykeeran village by removing the ditch?
Reply:
This is a National Secondary route and the NRA have provided no funding for works on National Secondary roads in the Athlone area in 2008.
17 - February 2008:
Following no allocation of funding for the Ballykeeran Byepass can this Council resubmit their proposal to the NRA for their immediate attention?
Reply:
The scheme will be resubmitted to the NRA for funding in 2009 as all allocations for 2008 have been determined.
18 - May 2008:
That this Council urgently re-surface the parking area at the Ballykeeran Viewing Point on the N55 and provide a regular grass cutting programme of works on either side of the N55 of the viewing area to enhance the amenity.
Reply:
