Councillors united in their concern over nightmare at The Elms

Pedestrians walking near The Elms in Mullingar have to walk part of their journey on the road, as there is no footpath, Mullingar mayor, Cllr Ken Glynn, complained at the March meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

Cllr Glynn’s motion called on the district to fast track progress to extend the footpath from Ballinderry roundabout towards the Elms as currently pedestrians are forced to walk on what is, he said, a busy road.

The official written response stated that the district has been engaging with representatives of a landowner in the area in order to acquire the necessary lands by agreement. “The next step will be to commence the CPO process to acquire the lands to construct a footpath,” the response concluded.

“I’ve raised this many times before, and the response is pretty much the same response every time I raise it,” Cllr Glynn told officials.

“I don’t see an improvement in that it hasn’t happened: we’re talking about a CPO for a considerable number of years,” he said, adding that he often walks that stretch. “It’s lethal,” he stated.

Cllr Glynn said that after the local media reported the response the last time he had brought a motion before the council on the issue, he had received a lot of engagement from people saying “hopefully, this is going to happen this time”, but the situation has not changed. He said: “I respect there’s a lot going on behind the scenes by the council trying to make it happen, and I think we need to just move on it – get it started, get the footpath in because, as it stands, it’s just such an inconvenience and it’s such a danger for pedestrians and it’s a really busy residential area.”

Cllr Andrew Duncan supported Cllr Glynn’s motion. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said, stating that this was something that has been brought to his attention on numerous occasions, and he too has raised it at meetings of the district.

He regarded the location as “exceptionally dangerous”.

“I do understand the reasons for not being able to do it, since the land is not owned by Westmeath County Council, but where are we with the CPO process?” he asked.

Support came also from Cllr Emily Wallace. “If there’s anything we can do to push this forward we’ll fully support it,” she said.

Responding, director of services Deirdre Reilly stated that on a positive note, it is intended to commence the CPO process on the land in question.

She said it was not yet possible to provide a timeline as it will depend on whether there is an objection to the CPO and whether an oral hearing becomes necessary.