‘What sort of people are we dealing with?’- Cllr
Seamus Enright
A local community are exasperated at the apparent disregard by the roads authority to a plea for crash barriers to be erected along a busy lakeside amenity site, the scene of several fatal road accidents in recent years.
Lavey Lake Development Committee (LLDC) says they are “frustrated†after swimming lessons at Lavey Strand had to be cancelled this summer arising from concerns of parents sending their children to the locally organised activity. Understood to have taken place at Lavey Strand for the past 25-years, Sean Dunne of LLDC told The Anglo-Celt: “We're fairly disappointed that swimming has been cancelled here this year. It's a great facility here, a great community event, wonderful for families and young people, but we understand the concerns of parents given what has happened in the past. It's a concern surely.â€
Their plight was raised by local elected members at the recent monthly meeting of Cavan County Council, where Fine Gael's Val Smith reacted with scorn to a letter from the former National Roads Authority (NRA), now Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on the matter.
The road authority had written to the council expressing “concerns†at vehicles stopping on the hard shoulder to access the amenity park at Lavey, and therefore did not believe a safety barrier would be the correct remedial measure for the problem.
They stated too that if speed is an issue then checks should be carried out by the Council and gardai in the area. “If it is believed that speed is not the only issue at the location, Cavan County Council should design an appropriate scheme to deal with the safety issues identified,†TII wrote back, adding an economic appraisal and feasibility study should also be conducted.
Director of Services Joe McLoughlin informed members the Council would examine the site, after which safety proposals would be designed, including the possibility of barriers, with an application for funding arising out of that. But he said it was unlikely that work would take place this summer.
Safety proposals
But Cllr Smith was particularly irate that TII had failed to acknowledge the existing car parking facility on site, pointing to this as clear evidence officials had failed to survey the scene properly.
“It just showed they hadn't even come to look at it, sure that's no good,†says Cllr Smith. “We had a car park the last six months and their reply came three months after that. It's ridiculous. What sort of people are we dealing with?â€
Up to €100,000 has been spent in developing Lavey Strand, from clearing trees, to developing a car park, adding pathways and picnic benches, while there are further plans to install and erect a public changing area for swimmers.
But there have been fatal accidents nearby in 2009, 2012, 2015, with the most recent in 2017 seeing debris from fencing cleared into the lake, and this has prompted worry among parents that such a situation may again unfold when the lakeside is in full use.
“How many more will be killed before something is done? Has it come to that? It's a sick situation that it takes fatalities to justify a barrier in these people's eyes. All we're looking for is a barrier, and to extend the speed limit 100 metres either side of the village, it would make a big difference,†Cllr Smyth told the Celt.
Annoyance
Fellow elected member, Fianna Fail's Fergal Curtin also expressed his annoyance, saying swimming lessons typify the sort of local event which form the “life blood†of the community. “This has disappointed a lot of people, a lot of families that we find ourselves in the situation we are right now. It's as equally important we now find solutions, this summer is maybe beyond that scope, but for next year and years to come. It's not just about safety, it's about protecting lives.â€
He added whatever decision is made, that those involved visit Lavey Strand and take cognisance of the layout of the area and issues affecting it.
“One thing is certain, there's no point making decisions looking at old photographs, sitting at a desk. We want real solutions, not off the cuff responses which only delay matters and lose time,†he said.