Still no verdict on Ballina jetty

Still no verdict on Ballina jetty


Anna-Marie Flynn

BALLINA’s contentious jetty may be retained – after its removal was dubbed as ‘letting the yobs win’.
At a meeting of the Town Council last week, Mayor, Cllr Mary Kelly requested elected members be furnished with more information prior to making a decision on the future of the jetty on the River Moy.
The Mayor asked the Town Engineer, Michael O’Grady, to provide a further report on the structure, situated at Bachelor’s Walk in the town, focusing on safety and costs relating to its removal and/or maintenance fees should it be retained. The Mayor made her request after a number of councillors deemed the reports issued to date as ‘insufficient’ and ‘flimsy’.
Reaffirming a motion initially made by him at an earlier meeting, Cllr Willie Nolan told the meeting he was ‘still of the same opinion’ and called once again for the removal of the jetty. “It is not functional, not safe and not serving the purpose it should be,” he said.
Taking an impassioned stance, he told the meeting he estimated retaining the jetty could cost 1-2% of the annual commercial rate paid by each business person when maintenance fees were taken into consideration.
Independent councillor, Peter Clarke, supported the motion, saying: “It attracts antisocial behaviour and a lot of the local residents, many of whom are old-aged pensioners, say they are persecuted with the noise created by that antisocial behaviour.”
Adding to the debate, Cllr Johnnie O’Malley said a removal of the jetty could be considered as ‘letting the yobs win’ and suggested the issue of antisocial behaviour be addressed properly at the Joint Policing Committee of which he is the chair.
Advising the members, Town Manager, Paddy Mahon, said he had hoped that a removal of the structure could be done without incurring any costs.
However, he added that the authority should ‘bear in mind’ that a previous council had invested in the jetty as a piece of infrastructure for the town, so all issues should be explored before making a final decision.