Mayo councillor critical of 'repackaging' of Active Travel funding

A CASTLEBAR councillor has expressed disgust and annoyance at the announcement of €4 million in funding for Active Travel programmes saying it is repackaged and reduced from last year's allocation.

A number of members of Mayo County Council expressed annoyance at the reduction of funding for Active Travel projects around the county with the total funding reduced by €500,000 on last year's allocation.

Castlebar-based Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan told the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council that some of the projects in her area will not be delivered and claimed the funding is being repackaged.

“We are not fools sitting in this room. I suggest we write to the Minister and demand that the funding announced this year is reinstated and we have our funding for Active Travel. I ask you to look at the money which has come in and realise it was repackaged from last year and cut. It is an absolute shambles. If anyone has any better ideas of how we will get this money back for our districts I will take it on board but initially we should write to the ministers above anything else,” she said.

Cllr Sheridan was one of a number of county councillors who expressed annoyance at the Active Travel programme throughout the county.

Bonniconlon-based Fine Gael councillor John O'Hara said that three years ago €186,000 was allocated for his village but claimed that it is now gone.

“It is nothing but lies and I mean lies one after the other. Three years ago there was €186,000 awarded for Bonniconlon. I rang someone this morning and was told there is nothing for it not a thing. All we are listening to is lies, lies, lies whether we like it or not,” he said.

Cllr O'Hara criticised the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan for proposals to stop cars from accessing town centres and claimed it will put small shops out of business because elderly people who rely on their cars will not be able to get into town.

Independent Ballina-based councillor Mark Duffy claimed that money allocated for Active Travel in the town was going to consultants and not delivering projects which will be used by the public.

“More money was allocated to Active Travel which I think is a top up to these consultants who are just terrible. We have had about two hours of engagement with them in about two years. We don't have any specific plans two years on from it.

“Transformational projects are needed to be done but the consultants who were appointed for so bad and their work has been so poor it has been a disappointment for everyone in Ballina. We have a lot of work to get that [transport] plan right but it is no thanks to the overpaid consultants who have let us down as a community.

“We need more ambition in terms of active travel measures and proposals like the footbridge between the Quay and Belleek in Ballina should be prioritised as transformational projects that will improve the quality of life without having to take away anything from people,” he said.