Mayo Active Travel accused of 'sticking the two fingers up' to local councillors

The Active Travel Unit of Mayo County Council were accused of 'sticking the two fingers up' to local councillors for failing to attend a council meeting.

There was anger and frustration among some members of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District after they were informed no members of the Active Travel Unit were able to attend the March monthly meeting to answer questions on the Safe Routes to School scheme within the municipal district.

The meeting took place in Belmullet but was available to attend online and councillors said there was no reason why they couldn't 'dial in for ten to 15 minutes'.

Fianna Fáil councillor Brendan Mulroy stated he was disgusted with the non-appearance and proposed that someone from Active Travel attend the April meeting of the municipal district.

“For something as serious as Safe Routes to School and not to send a representative into the room or go online is like sticking the two fingers up to the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District.

Cllr Brendan Mulroy

“This is totally disrespectful to every child in our area involved in this report. I have no idea what is going on and why someone cannot be here today. It is frustrating at times to have to go to a municipal district meeting but there is no accountability here to answer questions.

“I would have thought school kids and Safe Routes to School would mean a lot more to people than not travelling to a meeting. I am disgusted,” he said.

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Jim Power, the meeting administrator informed the councillors that a report on the scheme had been circulated and members of the unit would 'welcome' any queries councillors have regarding the report.

The Safe Routes to School Programme is a partnership between An Taisce, the National Transport Authority (NTA) and local authorities and aims to improve the walking / cycling routes to and from schools in order to reduce traffic congestion outside of the school gates.

Independent councillor John O'Malley also expressed disappointment that nobody was attending the meeting to answer questions and pointed out that children attending the national schools on the Newport Road in Westport were putting their lives in danger when crossing the road.

The report on the Safe Route to School Scheme showed that Brackloon National School outside Westport was the only school in the municipal district in Round 1 of the scheme while only Holy Trinity and Murrisk National Schools were in Round 2.

Cathaoirleach of the municipal district, Cllr Peter Flynn said that funding of €250,000 was assigned to Brackloon NS in 2023 and three years later there was no sign of work taking place on it. He said he wants to know dates of when the schemes will start and finish.

“I don't think there has been one scheme delivered in this municipal district under the safe schools since it came under the NTA in 2021. I stand to be corrected on that but we definitely need dates for starting and completion. We need realistic dates rather than talk about phase one, two or three because it means nothing to us as councillors or to the general public,” he said.

Cllr Flynn also proposed that David Mellet, the new Director of Services with responsibility for Roads, attend the next meeting to give an update on Active Travel within the county.