10-year wait for private lane repairs

Cavan County Council has revealed that there is a 10-year backlog for works on private roads and lanes in real terms under a particular scheme.

The revelation came after the local authority was asked to clarify the criteria for various road repair schemes.

The Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) and Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) came in for mention at the recent meeting of the Bailieboro Cootehill MD by Cllr Sarah O’Reilly. She queried the criteria used to determine what scheme an application falls under.

Cllr O’Reilly pointed that one particular road in her area has eight or nine houses along it and is in a poor state of repair.

MD manager Alan Lyons explained that cul-de-sac roads with a low number of dwellings on it would not make the cut for the scheme. He pointed out that the focus currently is on regional roads, which are used by industry for moving goods.

He explained that CIS schemes are an opportunity for members of the public and communities to band together and bring forward proposals and the general contribution they have to make towards the scheme is around 15 %.

Cllr Val Smith (FG) said he understood there is around €150,000 for roads under CIS scheme.

Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF) suggested making a submission to the Department outlining the need for more funding under the LIS scheme including the number of roads on the waiting list in the county.

Director of Services Paddy Connaughton revealed, in relation to the LIS Scheme, the council typically receives between €500,000 and €600,000 per year and the local authority is about 10 years behind in terms of applications. The council has been identifying works to the Department and there is a shortfall at this stage of approximately €12M to carry out necessary works.

Cllr Kelly remarked, when you tell people out there that it will take up to 10 years to get a road done, they look at you as “if you have horns on your head”.