Calls for schools routes to be prioritised during extreme weather

Olga Aughey

School closures and footpaths were to the forefront of the minds of members of Westmeath County Council recently when an update was given by the executive following on from Met Eireann's orange warning for snow two weeks ago.

Director of services Mr Barry Kehoe said that less than 8cms of snow had fallen across Westmeath on December 9, but there was a particularly bad band of snow ranging from Tang, through Ballymore onto Tyrrellspass, where the heaviest falls occurred and the council's snow ploughs had to be dispatched.

"Footpaths are the other critical issue and people are out and about trying to do their bits and pieces for Christmas and we are trying to keep the footpaths clear in the two main towns," said Mr Kehoe, but added that the council's resources do not allow for the cover of every footpath and he appealed to all property owners within the towns and villages to keep the footpaths outside their premises clear of snow.

"It can make a huge difference just to shovel off the snow off the footpath onto the road. If everybody got out and did outside their own premises it would leave the town safe."

Complimenting all the staff for all their work was Cllr Ken Glynn who called for school routes to be prioritised in extreme weather.

"Any school that isn't on the schedule should be prioritised. There is concerns coming in from various estates too, there's a number of estates that might have a steep hill coming in or going out of it, if we can't do it, some form of salt should be given to those areas," said Cllr Glynn.

Cllr Andrew Duncan said the point about retailers keeping the paths clear was a good one but the problem was when snow falls at the weekend and said a depot should be open at the weekends to allow people access salt.

Welcoming the fact that ploughs were deployed over the weekend was Cllr Paul Hogan, who agreed with other members on the poor condition of estates and outside schools, and raised the Horseleap to Ballinea road who asked that it be kept in mind.

Cllr Johnny Penrose highlighting three roads where schools are located, including Kilbeggan to Castletown, Castletown to Dysart, and Skeagh Cross to Ballynacargy, where Milltown, and said all were in a treacherous condition.

Raising Mount Temple village where "businesses had a lot of cancellations" was Cllr Frankie Keena and said salt banks should be provided to villages in advance of extreme weather. "Areas like that who are depending on the Sunday trade like restaurants, it's important," said Cllr Keena.

Thanking the council on behalf of people of Collinstown was Cllr Una D'Arcy for clearing the roads ahead of the Christmas fair to go ahead, as did Cllr Frank McDermott who said he had never seen a snow plough before until now.

Cllr D'Arcy said Bus Eireann should have responsibility for getting children to schools safely as it's not within the Council's resources.

Cllr Sorca Clarke said she was disappointed to hear that when a school contacted the council for the provision of a salt bin, they were told they weren't entitled to it.

"These schools are willing to look after the area outside of their area. I understood that there was a nominal fee of €100 for the bin and the council would cover the first fill of salt," said Cllr Clarke.

Cllr Mick Dollard agreed with Cllr D'Arcy who said the PPN network should be used so that villages and residents associations can distribute salt in their areas.

Cllr Tom Farrell said if salt was provided people could do outside the schools themselves, while Cllr Bill Collentine said a depot would be very important as the Green Bridge in Mullingar was "impossible to go up or town" and people had to walk out on the street.

Believing it was wrong that schools had to close because of the weather was Cllr Liam McDaniel, while Cllr Paddy Hill said the message that needs to go out loud and clear was that even on roads that are gritted it still might not be safe because of "lunatic drivers". 

Cllr Emily Wallace said salt bins should be provided for schools and businesses and the PPN network needs to be used.

In response to the members queries about schools, Mr Kehoe said the Council had nothing to do with schools closing.

"There's lots of reasons why the schools closed and I think the condition in terms of roads is a very minor one - we all made it to work today, people can get around the county," commented Mr Kehoe. "There are 77 primary schools in the county and they are scattered right throughout the county and it's just impossible to treat all those.

"Following 2010, boards of management of schools were tasked with drawing up a plan of action for periods of severe weather and they need to be able to put them in place," he said.

"We're treading a fine line in involving people from the community to spread salt because inevitably the book will come back to us if somebody hurts themselves laying salt. There are issues that have to be resolved there," he finished.