The backlog of applicants in Tipperary for the Local Improvement Scheme stretches back as far as four or five years.
That’s according to Councillor Sean Ryan who brought concerns about the issue to this month’s meeting of Tipperary County Council, which was echoed by fellow councillors.
Cllr. Ger Darcy said it was a great initiative to bring roads up to standard, but the pile-up of applicants was getting bigger and bigger.
Cllr. Rocky McGrath, who also supported Cllr. Ryan, said funding is badly needed to work through the pile of applicants looking to have roads and lanes fixed throughout the county.
The Fianna Fáil councillor asked for a letter to be sent to Minister Eamonn Ryan to secure a second round of funding for LIS.
“It looks like the council will go back to the department and ask for additional funding so at least we can clear some more of these lanes and get them brought up to the proper level where they are usable by the general public, the local applicants, and of course if they need to be used by emergency services or other vehicles.”
Concerns were heard that if funding was not approved, they would need to stop accepting new applicants as it would give people false hope that they would have their lanes done.
The Fianna Fáil councillor says it bodes well to keep the scheme running, as the roads being built are built to last.
“One of the things we are seeing in recent years is the standard of tarmac, finish, and surfaces put on the road holding much better. I think it would be generally agreed that a lot of the work thats being done in recent times is actually holding up, doing fairly well, and is robust enough with the weather that’s there, particularly on any roads that are newly surfaced and where there is new bedding put in and triple-A grade tarmac put in, it generally holds up very well. So, that’s what we’re hoping: that when the work is done, at least some of the applicants that have had work done won’t have to have it revisited again.”
