Wind turbine revenue 'should be spent on road gritting'

A local councillor has said that Mayo County Council should use the money it receives in rates from wind turbine companies to increase the capacity of its winter gritting programme.

Cllr Michael Loftus said he has been told on a number of occasions that there is no funding available to grit the R315, a 22km road connecting Ballycastle to Crossmolina.

“Our chief executive Kevin Kelly always says about these things, 'show me the money and where we can get it'. The council recently approved 19 turbines in the Ballycastle area and the council will be getting €575,000 in funding as rates,” he said. “This money should be used to grit the road and I would like to see it done."

Cllr John O’Hara said the Church Road between Ballina and Attymass was of "strategic importance" and it was simply not good enough that it was not gritted in the recent cold spell.

“Church Road was like a bottle and there is no barrier either side, there’s nothing to save you. If there is an accident on the main Foxford Road, all traffic is diverted here,” he said. “It is so deadly. If funding from rates can be diverted here, it would be welcome.”

However, the council's senior executive engineer Orla Bourke said the gritting programme was currently at capacity and no further roads would be added to this year’s schedule.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.