‘Significant rise’ in CIS budget called for amid road repair concerns in Leitrim

A joint funding scheme between the community and the Council for road works has been criticised for not having enough funding to cover roads in need of works under the scheme.

At a meeting of Ballinamore Municipal District, Cllr Enda McGloin submitted two motions regarding roads that need “urgent repairs.”

His first motion concerned the road number L83001 at Druminalass, Ballinaglera, where he called on the Council to include it in any future road works scheme. “In the interim, I ask that the Council patching unit inspect the road.”

His second motion related to Rossy Lane (L3355-1) in Drumcong, which he said is in “a particularly bad state,” with the cul-de-sac having seven or eight houses on it.

A response from the Roads Department to both motions confirmed that a velocity patcher will be scheduled to carry out works on both roads, and that both roads are suitable for inclusion in a future Community Involvement Scheme (CIS).

Under the CIS, the local community makes a monetary contribution towards the cost of the road works, which is eight per cent of the cost of the repair of the road, while the Council carries out the works.

The CIS typically applies to roads that have low-volume usage, such as cul-de-sacs.

Cllr McGloin welcomed the fact that velocity patchers would attend the roads but took issue with the CIS.

“It’s alright saying the CIS is an option, but when there’s no money for the scheme, that presents another problem,” he said, adding that there would need to be a “significant rise” in terms of the budget.

“I’d be anxious to get both of them on the list for the next road works programme. I feel these works won’t have a chance of getting anything done on them if they’re both on the CIS,” he added.

His motion was seconded by Cllr Brendan Barry.

Cllr McGloin continued, “The difficulty is that the funding for CIS is so limited. If that’s the only option I’d like to see it prioritised.”

Cllr Róisín Kenny commented that she has concerns with the CIS, especially when people contribute their own money to the works and expect it to be done to the highest standard.

“It’s important that the roads done on CIS are maintained to a very high quality,” she added.