Rural roads left in limbo due to council stance
A Louisburgh councillor has called on Mayo County Council to continue fixing potholes and surfaces in roads leading to rural houses.
Cllr Chris Maxwell said he was aware that a number of small roads serving a handful of houses had been removed from the council list, meaning that upkeep works were no longer being provided.
“We have all heard about the forgotten farmers who never got their pay, but recently I have come across the forgotten roads," Cllr Maxwell told last week's meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District. "These are roads that are not on the Mayo County Council list. They are not council roads, they say, but for years and years they have been tarred and the potholes filled by the council. But now, on several occasions when I have asked for this to be done, they say no, it is not on the list, we won’t do it anymore.
“The people who live along these roads are now being told they have to go down the LIS (Local Improvement Scheme) route of applying to have the road designated as a local road in order to have the work done. They say they paid money years ago for the road but nothing was done.
"We have a 300-metre road in Knappagh full of potholes that would not cost a lot to fill. There are four or five houses on it, but they say it is not on the list now, even though it was always done.
“Another road in Laghta, a fantastic job was done on it a few years ago but the council never took it over and now it is an LIS and the council doesn't want to do it now either.
“These roads are only a couple of hundred yards here and there. Can’t the council just take them over and get on with it?" he asked.
Cllr John O’Malley said the LIS process was not a simple one.
“Say five people on a road want to make it an LIS road, but if one doesn’t sign it, it can’t be taken over by the council. It was an awful mistake people made back in time when they didn’t put in for it to be a council road."
Head of the municipal district Seamus O’Mongáin said there were a number of steps to be taken before the council took charge of a road.
"You have to apply for it to become an LIS first and then, once it is brought up to standard, we are happy to take it in charge.”
