YOUGHAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 2010

Due to ongoing industrial action being undertaken by the council executive, Youghal Town Council’s April meeting was diverted from Monday night to 10am Tuesday morning. By Christy Parker

Votes of Congratulations:

Cllr Mary Linehan Foley congratulated 12 year-old Adam Curley of Fitzgerald’s Terrace on winning a gold medal in the all-Ireland boxing championships in Santry, Dublin last weekend.

Cllr Eoin Coyne paid tribute to David O’Callaghan in lieu of the Irish U-20 rugby team’s recent six-nation side triumph. “He played in every match,” noted the councillor “and is a credit to his town and family.”

Town Foreman’s report:

Cllr Michelle Hennessy said there were “bags and bags” of rubbish near the Lighthouse (diving board), containing items such as cans and bottles that “are above the water line” and need removing. Also the picnic area by the pitch and putt club is suffering overflowing bins, she said, while Claycastle beach and the New Line were similarly rubbish strewn. “There are two pillows on the side of the road at the New Line for about two months,” she noted. Mayor Sandra McLellan reminded that the New Line and Claycastle occupy Cork County Council’s domain.

Other items to which Cllr Hennessy drew attention were, the pothole at the bottom of Windmill Hill, a collapsed yield sign at the end of the Spa Hill, an incomplete footpath on Raheen Road and breaking tar at the entrance to Seaview.

Graveyard drinking

The councillor then referred to the ongoing problem of illegal and underage drinking in the graveyard and associated anti-social and criminal behaviour. She asked if lights could be installed in the area. “I know it may only move the problem on but at least it might stop the vandalism in there,” she ventured. Town Clerk Liam Ryan said the new Intoxicating Liquor bye laws had seen five fines issued in the past weeks in relation to offences in the graveyard. Interestingly, he observed, neither of the recipients had been underage or Youghal residents. He said due process was being followed and that, where appropriate, miscreants will be named in such cases. As regards lighting he would, on foot of a council proposal, investigate the costs, etc. prior to installing it. However, he stressed, “it is a social issue” and parents have to accept responsibility for what their children do.”

Mayor McLellan suggested CCTV might also be installed.

Cllr Barbara Murray said the poles supporting the town’s finger pointing signs were susceptible to being turned and so signs were misdirecting. She also called for more poop bins on the main walking areas.

Cllr Linehan Foley repeated the concerns over the drinking situation in the cemetery and other areas. She said the main protagonists ‘are known” and wondered if their parents should be approached by the gardai. Cllr Michael Beecher said gardai were sometimes abused by parents of children who are brought home intoxicated and that offenders should be “put out of the town.”

Cllr Linehan Foley asked that an engineer seek a solution for traffic dangers on the Copperally road exiting onto the Quarry Road where visibility was obstructed. She congratulated the council workers for the new blue and white flags on the town’s heritage buildings.

Housing

The councillor asked when the new houses at Seafeld were being allocated and sought a general overview on council housing availability and character in Youghal. The town clerk said 24 houses, largely two-bed and one of which pertains to special needs- will be allocated in about four to six weeks time.  He described the condition of the housing list as having been very good by comparison to other jurisdictions but that the council’s success had brought an increased demand from people arriving from other areas.

Cllr Murray suggested that council residents in two-storey, three-bedroom houses might downscale to smaller accommodation. Mr. Ryan said such applications do arise and, all being well, are duly considered. Somewhat unexpectedly, the prime demand for council houses is from two people, or two-bedroom applicants. He elaborated that the umber of families on the housing list is “quite small” with an estimated breakdown of 50-60% two person, 30% single personas and the balance in families. “The fact we have housed a lot of three-bedroom applicants/families in the past accounts in part for this,” he added.

Cllr Liam Burke said gravel and sand needed removing from the promenade, fencing at the railway station needed re-instating by Irish Rail and potholes and road surface at Ballyclamsy needed urgent remedial work, as indeed does Kilcoran Road.

Spotlights, slob, sluice, sign and Ashe Street

Cllr Michael Beecher repeated the need for action on underage/illegal drinking and anti-social behaviour in the graveyard and also in areas such as the Slob Bank and Indian Point. He too favoured spotlights, in all such areas if need be. He claimed parents were dropping children off at the Slob in some instances. The councillor also criticised illegal dumping and hoped the new CCTV initiative would catch offenders. Cllr Beecher also asked that the sleepers at the entrances to he promenade be removed, the developer be required to provide manholes at Parkland as water is lodging in rear gardens and a concrete bollard at Dominic Collins Place be stabilised.

Cllr Coyne said the sluice gates at the Slob weren’t closing properly, though he was reminded it was a county council matter. He asked that the gates at the town hall be opened to the public during the day, especially in summertime. Cllr Linehan Foley said they were closed because of vandalism at night in previous times. Cllr Coyne suggested re-landscaping at the front entrance to Sweetfield Estate and an entrance sign repaired. Litter from Dun Chorain to the Pobalscoil Trionoide needed removing, he concluded. The town clerk said all such issues would be considered but staff had been reduced from 20 to 13 since 2008. Town Manager Patricia Power said finances had also been considerably reduced.

Mayor McLellan noted that the Greens Quay area needed resurfacing and rubbish cleared. She said a wall in Ashe Street was about to collapse and Mr. Ryan said a ‘dangerous structure’ notice had been issued to the owner last week.

County Council Items:

Cllr Murray asked the town engineer Paul Murray that a ‘plan of work’ invoking gone hour on Friday evening and one hour on Monday morning be applied to cleaning up Claycastle beach. She stressed the area was “absolutely disgusting” at presence and that, it being one of Youghal’s prime tourist attractions, it cannot be allowed to reflect so bad an impression on visitors. She said flexibility was essential to ensure this. She said bins were pointless and better taken away with a cleaning regime and anti-litter signs preferable. ‘The Town Council have always been better on this matter and the County Council is letting us down very badly,” she stated.

The councillor then said that gravel needed to be removed from the front strand car park and, given one private individual had taken some of it last week, perhaps others might also wish to do likewise. She next alluded to the Slob Bank drains backing up, due to the sluice gate malfunctioning.

Roads and footpaths

Cllr Linehan Foley concurred with Cllr Murray’s views on the Claycastle. Her next concern was that “a major hole in the centre of the road” at Watson’s corner be repaired, where an elderly man nearly came to grief recently. The councillor asked for news on reducing the “massive footpath” at Dr. Kennedy’s Place, which motorists were continually mounting and damaging given the narrowness of the road. The town engineer said he would re-examine it. In reply to Cllr Linehan Foley, he also informed that plans to address the illegal parking that was causing loss of vision to exiting motorists at Quarryvale are currently being considered at County Hall. He would also provide a copy of any decisions to the councillor for residents to consider.

The town clerk interceded that the issue of Youghal’s main and back street roads were the responsibility of Cork County Council. He advocated that the issues be raised at the Area Roads and Southern Committee meetings by way of seeking the county council to prioritise them. ‘This council prioritised roads that urgently needed resurfacing and they must do the same, regardless of the upcoming main drainage scheme,’ he elaborated.

Looking for loo

Cllr Beecher said that road resurfacing on Cork Hill had now prompted a new problem of speeding. Mr. Ryan said that where speed limits are applied, enforcement is a garda matter. The town engineer explained that road lining soon to be applied would assist a solution, with parking bays etc also being re-installed and thus reducing the road width. Cllr Beecher then referred to a ‘toilet’ sign at Claycastle pointing to a private residence, whereby the householder now had people knocking at his door to use his facility! “All the signs need to looked at,” remarked Cllr Murray.

Cllr Burke sought an update on the Redbarn Blue Flag situation. He also referred with some exasperation to the “usual list” of broken footpaths at Tallow Street, South Main Street and Junction of South Abbey and Strand Street. “Its three years since I first raised these issues and not one part of one of them has been fixed,” he observed. Likewise he repeated his regular reference to “the Summerdale Lawn missing sign,” although he conceded he had only been raising that matter for “a year and a half.’ Other matters concerning Cllr Burke were potholes between the AIB and Church Street and a large quantity of sand near the bend close to Aura, that was causing cars to skid.

Foroige proposed beach clean

Cllr Revins said there were pothole problems at Brown Street and on Golf Links Road. He then brought a very welcome proposal to the table whereby Foroige had offered to conduct a beach clean up, should Cork County or Youghal Town Council provide the rubbish bags and facilitate their removal. Cllr Revins said a street clean up was also a possibility in due course The proposal was eagerly accepted, especially, as the town engineer advised, county council staff numbers had been substantially reduced in recent times. The town manager said such an initiative reflected the old, reliable ‘meitheal’ mentality whereby people undertook to resolve community needs themselves. She felt such methodology might be necessary by way of atoning for council cutbacks. However, Cllr Murray reminded her that a similar move by residents to empty street bins, etc in Castlemartyr met with a council warning not to touch them as it was ‘somebody else’s job.’

Cllr Henenssy warned that low signs on the island at the Bretton Road were obscuring motorists ‘and children’s vision and endangering the children going to nearby shop from the playground. The town’s zebra crossings need repainting and Raheen Road’s new footpath has caused problems, with cars parked on both sides  rending the road to narrow.

Mayor’s Business:

The mayor read a letter from South Abbey National Schools seeking support for a new premises. The letter referred to an engineer’s report that indicated a serious need it noted that a 2006 application to the Dept of Education for a new school remained unanswered. It has three teachers, two classrooms and 59 children, with a playground that can only facilitate 20 people at once. It was a critical situation and the council agreed to support it as best they could, including forwarding a letter to the Minister for Education.

Youth café  needs volunteers

The mayor also read a letter from the Garda Youth Project being run in conjunctions with Foroige and intended to assist young people in danger of or already within the Justice system. It was noted that funding cutbacks had claimed the job of the extremely accomplished youth worker Nicola Lucey and that services at the youth café now depended on voluntary endeavours. It was widely agreed that having fought so long and hard to acquire funding –including RAPID input- followed by the establishment of a highly acclaimed and badly needed service, Youghal cannot afford to see the Nagle House centre fall apart. Cllr.  Linehan Foley stressed that parents or other responsible adults need to dedicate the required  two hours per fortnight towards assisting the venture. She reflected that a previous youth centre failed because of flack of voluntary assistance amidst complaints from parents that their children had nowhere to go. “Yet they wouldn’t give an hour of their time,” she said. The town clerk said the government needed to reassess issues such as compelling social welfare recipients to contribute rime towards such community services.

Mayor McLellan advised that Dublin man Cyril Delaney will be contacting councillors seeking support for his bid to acquire justice for his father Robert, a Dublin postman shot last year. The victim remains in a vegetative state. Two alleged ‘hit men’ have been arrested for the crime but the instigator of th eattcak remains at large.

No Tricolour on Easter Sunday

The mayor said she was absolutely disgusted and ashamed” that the 1916 Easter Rising was not honoured with the flag flying over the town hall on Easter Sunday. She said she did not accept the council executive’s reasoning of a work-to-rule regarding overtime as valid. Cllr Hennessy concurred and attested that several people had complained. She said several council employees who were working on the day would gladly have raised the flag. She believed, “we were the only town council in Ireland that failed to do so.”

The town clerk said that alongside the work-to-rule, a national flag has to be erected before dawn and taken down before sunset. Unimpressed, Cllr Hennessy reminded that on St. Patrick’s Day a phone call to the mayor saw the flag erected 20 minutes later. “Where was the work-to-rule then?!” she challenged. The councillor became increasingly vociferous as she informed the meeting that men and women died in 1916 so that “we can sit her in this chamber.” She said there were a flag and a proclamation in the chamber but “yet we couldn’t put up our flag! I don’t think it ever happened in Youghal Town Council Its a disgrace!”

When Mr. Ryan said he had been unaware of the situation, Cllr Hennessy demanded, “Who should have been be aware?! Easter Sunday cones every year!” Amidst a hushed chamber, Town Manager Patricia Power promised procedures to ensure the situation would not arise again.

Motion in the name of Cllr Linehan Foley, seconded by Cllr Burke:

‘That Kilcoran Road be prioritised for road resurfacing and that the works be completed during 2010’:

Cllr Linehan Foley said she had first introduced this Motion ten years ago “and we’re still talking.” She understood there had been extenuation issues meantime involving land purchases, etc. However, the subsequent, existing plans to widen the road would render it “a death tap” by inducing increased speeding. She said the narrow, winding nature of the route abetted safety and that resurfacing was what was required -and badly required, with tyres being blown by the state of the road. With other areas having been deservedly resurfaced, she now feared that money might continue to be allocated elsewhere.

Mr Ryan explained that the money for widening the road could directed towards resurfacing instead if the motion was amended to request that purpose and supported by the councillors. He would then have the work costed and report back so to whether the funding presently available could meet it. If a shortfall existed, they could deal with that issue in due course. Cllr Beecher suggested that “proper traffic calming measures, not strips” be incorporated into such work. He was informed that this was a separate issue and one that would require consensus from residents. The motion was amended to request re-surfacing instead of road widening and unanimously supported.

Motion in the name of Cllr. Murray seconded by Cllr. Beecher:

“That This Council consider a review of commercial development contributions. This review would apply to developments undertaken within a prescribed timeframe, thus encouraging economic activity that would have a positive impact for the town of Youghal”.

Cllr Murray argued that the Planning and Development Act may allow for payment of reduced contribution, or none, in certain circumstances. The motion sought to promote job creation, while in any case the council currently received scant income from development contributions. She elaborated that if contributions were paid in full and in advance and the development started and finished within 18 to 24 months, the council could thus help stimulate the local economy as well as accrue the benefit of rates, the actual contribution and jobs during and after construction while the county council would benefit through water charges.

Cllr Murray said that if the measure was adopted, a substantial decrease in the charge should be introduced to make it attractive, or at least a freeze on the 8% annual increase. Hotels, supermarkets and other private sector enterprises were employing flexibility and innovation and the council needed to think likewise, she   urged.

The town clerk said that the town council could consider its options on contribution fees but that the scheme had two components. The first related to water & sewerage and roads which had been calculated and adopted into al development contributions throughout the county. Those calculations are based on Cork County council’s calculations and can’t be altered by the town council. The other contributions, as levied by Youghal Town Council, concern public lighting, amenities and car parks. He warned that other areas such as expenditure on heritage, the swimming pool car park, etc have already been adopted, and will be impacted upon if the scheme contribution scheme is altered. Amidst widespread support for her motion, Cllr Murray said she was content to await the outcome of negotiations between Cork County Council and the Department of the Environment for water services with regard to the county council gaining a reduction of its 30% contribution to that body, which in turn might enable it to reduce it development contribution scheme. The issue will thus most likely return for further debate.

The May town council meeting will take place Tuesday 11th at 10 am.

YOUGHAL SUFFERS CRIMINAL DAMAGE AND BURGLARY INCREASES DURING MARCH.

By Christy Parker

Youghal experienced 21 incidences of criminal damage, nine burglaries and three drug detections in the period March 2nd to April 6th. There were also 33 drug searches conducted and four incidences of underage drinking detected. The statistics were relayed to April’s Youghal and District Community Alert meeting by the group’s PRO, Sergeant John Sharkey.

According to the sergeant, many occasions of criminal damage are likely related to the town’s ongoing scourge of underage drinking, which in turn seems to have been exacerbated by school holidays. Criminal and anti-social behaviour particularly afflicted the north end of town, from Tallow Street towards Keane Park during the month, with tyre slashed and other property vandalised. Over a dozen residents from the area attended the Community Alert meeting to highlight the issue.

Prosecutions

The North Abbey cemetery, St. Mary’s Collegiate Church, the Slob Bank, the old Murray’s Kitchens site and Mill Road are now recognised as prime locations for illegal drinking. With brighter evenings and finer weather already present and summer holidays imminent, an exasperated garda force last week announced that prosecutions for law breaking, including trespass, will ensue through the probation services, ASBO’s and eventually full criminal convictions if need be. It is being stressed that a criminal conviction carries the extended consequences of influencing visa applications for many years to come. Meanwhile, the gardai have again asked that information or sightings relevant to underage be reported to the station in person or by phone on (024) 92200.

Burglaries

Of the nine burglaries recorded five have been solved according to Sergeant Sharkey. Three of these involved a crime perpetrated by a sole individual at a hotel and another individual was apprehended in relation to burglaries in a restaurant and a bar. Burglaries perpetrated on private houses, including at Atlantic Park remain unsolved, while a car stolen from Atlantic Park last month was recently involved in an attempted robbery in Drogheda.

Other recent incidents of crime include an attempted arson attack at the old CBS building on Golf Links Road and damage to windows at Pobalscoil na Trionoide, both of which occurred on Wednesday night, April 7th. There was also an arson attempt on the old Hilltop Hotel earlier this month, which could have had disastrous consequences give the presence of a hundreds of gallons of heating oil in a neglected oil tank in close proximity.

Personal alarms

A response from the Department of Community and Rural Affairs to the Community Alert groups brought unwelcome news. The group had sought funding for the provision of personal alarms for all 42 applications thus registered. However the department opted to enforce its new restrictions on a maximum of 15 cases per application. Some of the Youghal applications have been registered for over a year, prior to when the scheme was suddenly and temporarily suspended. “Now they want us to re-assess those case,” Sergeant Sharkey informed the meeting. The process will continue regardless however though the committee now face the unenviable task of deciding who to include and who no to include on the first application.

On a brighter note, once this application is processed and the funding put to use, a second application will ensue and so on. A time span of three to six months can be expected between applications. The personal alarm programme is run under the auspices of Muinter na Tire and helps greatly to improve home security for the isolated and elderly, through a central monitoring procedure. The project is not time constrained and applications are continuously accepted. Forms are available from the garda station.

On a concluding note, Youghal’s Foroige youth services continues to seek volunteers to supervise its activities and facilities at Nagle House. The excellent service, established through years of determination and commitment now finds itself combating ubiquitous government funding restrictions. Parents and other adults are asked to consider giving some time to the cause as it were, with as little as two hours per fortnight providing much needed assistance. In a collaborative, consequential way, volunteers are helping to provide Youghal’s youth with alternative options to slashing car tyres on the main streets, it can be said. Tele: 086-1702347.

The next Community Alert meeting is on Tuesday May 4th at 7.45pm in the Walter Raleigh hotel