NRA plan 'fails those living in villages and countryside'

Kildare County Council shpould work with farming and community organisations to make sure that rural roads and housing estates are cleared quickly of snow in any future cold snap.

That's the background to a motion put down by Cllr Martin Heydon for today's meeting of the Council's Athy Area Committee.

He says the system which has put the National Roads Authority in charge of providing grit to local authorities leaves the Council's 'hands tied' in relation to rural and minor roads.

“They (NRA) don't care about people who live on side roads or away from motorways and regional roads," he says. "They are not supplying our council with enough salt so as to allow us to keep access clear to villages and rural dwellers.”

Cllr Heydon says now is the time to ensure that plans are put in place to keep access to isolated areas clear. "We need to be out much quicker with snow ploughs to clear the snow this time before it compacts and also have grit in strategic positions so that local members of communities can spread it themselves. Farmers are willing to do this to maintain access to their areas."