Council responds to criticism of delays in Donabate work

FINGAL County Council has responded to criticism from a Northside councillor in relation to an impending project in the county.

Paul Mulville, a Social Democrats councillor for the Rush Lusk Local Electoral Area (LEA), has welcomed the council’s plans to provide a new pedestrian and cycle bridge in Donabate, across the railway line to the south of the existing road bridge. 

However, he warned there can be “no repeat of the current fiasco, whereby a relatively straightforward job of widening the road near the existing bridge has dragged on for a number of years without completion”.

In his submission to the council’s planning department, Cllr Mulville said: “I wish to broadly welcome this long-planned proposed development, which is an important component of the local area plan for lands at Donabate 2016, and the related action plan. 

“The bridge will provide an important pedestrian and cycle link between Donabate town centre and Semple Woods estate/Newbridge Demesne.

“This proposal will provide an alternative route for cycle and pedestrian traffic, and along with the imminent Donabate Distributor Road (Phase 1) and the Broadmeadows Way, it will hopefully allow greater car-free travel around Donabate.”

Cllr Mulville said that to ensure Donabate can become a sustainable town, a network of off-road cycle and pedestrian paths must be provided through new and existing residential and retail developments, and community and public spaces.  

“Cyclists must be able to travel safely throughout the Donabate Portrane area, whether they are commuters, school children, or people cycling for leisure and exercise,” he said.

“There is a need for certainty and a clear timeline for this important project to be delivered, and I would ask that this is included in the chief executive’s report which will be brought back to the council meeting following conclusion of the public consultation.

“There has been an extraordinarily long delay with the completion of a council project in Donabate, namely the widening of the R126 Hearse Road near the railway bridge, and such delays as this cannot be allowed happen again.”

Cllr Mulville said the ongoing delay with the road widening has been a source of immense frustration and disappointment in the local community. 

“As such, it is important with this project, and other similar projects that clear timelines for work to commence and be competed are laid out in advance and adhered to,” he added.

A spokesperson for Fingal County Council said: “While the construction of road and bridge projects on live trafficked roads and railways are challenging and complex operations and do sometimes encounter unexpected delays, the fundamental objective of Fingal County Council in delivering these projects, as well as the numerous other improvement works in Donabate and across the county, is to deliver safe, high quality and useful facilities that will benefit local citizens for generations to come.”