It was while looking back on my notes for February that I saw how busy it was. Between the weather and the work done around the area it certainly was one to remember. There was also the war that began in Ukraine and as usual the people of the area rose to the challenge and opened their hearts. Here is a brief reminder of some of what happened during February.
On February we delivered the people of the year awards to the overall winners. Usually, these awards are the best night of the year. Unfortunately, we haven’t had an awards night in a while, but it was wonderful to be able to deliver the awards to the overall winners. We live in a great area populated by great people who richly deserve to be applauded for all they do. It’s a small thing for people who do big things for us all and an honour to be involved.
The playground in Blarney was attracting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons. The area had become run down over the years due to use, but that use shows the importance of it to the area. I asked that the area be refreshed and that it should strive to become an area for children of all abilities. This month City Council did a wonderful job deep cleaning and renewing the walkways. While I understand that a full upgrade would be ideal, the minimum cost on that would be €250,000 so for now mats were replaced where necessary, the new accessible swing was installed, and the current equipment was repaired. Repainting of the equipment will happen as the weather improves to accommodate this. Could those parents who require a universal key to the access swings in Cork City Parks including Blarney Playground and Popham’s Field please email recreation@corkcity where one will be provided.
Heartening to see so many local clubs benefit from the Governments Sports Capital grants programme. Well done to the organisers who put so much time into their successful applications, it is down to the quality of the application that these get awarded so that is where the credit lies. Blarney Hurling & Football – €21,375 Blarney United Soccer Club – €104,728 Gleann Na Laoi – €16,173 Inniscarra Community Centre – €87,785 Muskerry Golf Club – €50,479 Muskerry RFC – €140,302 Rathpeacon GAA – €6,235 Whitechurch & Waterloo Community Assoc – €131,997
Great news for Killeens that another 1km of water pipe will be replaced this year. Irish Water had previously replaced 1km of the poorest performing sections of watermains in the area. It is planned to replace a further 1km section (where majority or recent bursts have occurred) as part of the 2022 mains rehab programme. This has been an ongoing fight since I was elected and is slowly being dealt with.
I was delighted to announce the following funded schemes from the Government over the course of the month Junction at Scoil Chroi Iosa safety upgrades €109,000 Wyses Bridge Lower Killeens rehabilitation €195,000 Healys Bridge to Cloghroe flood mitigation €30,000
The issue of dereliction is being dealt with proactively across the city and I have numerous requests from people to add eyesores across the area to the register. Rest assured that they have all been requested and are being acted upon. The more obvious ones have had a warning sent to them and they will be fined for allowing this dereliction to occur.
The storm winds played havoc with the area and once more the council reacted brilliantly. The work they do in situations like this is dangerous and that came home when we learned of the death of a council worker in another county. The value of the small crew who look after our area so diligently cannot be overstated and we owe them a huge debt.
Over the last month private signposts have been taken down around Blarney. To be fair there was an amount of clutter and some signs were in a poor condition. Would those who wish to arrange to have a sign placed on a pole in the area please contact the Area Office on (021) 238 9800 and the Area Engineer will speak to you about the process. There is a licence and charge required under the planning act for these.
Wonderful to see the awarding of the funds for Blarney’s parks in February. € 204,000 to finish the great work on the Clogheenmilcon Fenn and to advance the Inch Park. The Inch Park will provide a meadow for play, a picnic area, a riverside walk and is the natural addition to the Waterloo walk. This will add to attraction of Blarney and I hope that the families of Blarney and surrounding areas will get to use this amenity for the coming Summer and beyond.
My motions for discussion at this months meeting of the Local Area Committee were as follows ‘That Cork City Council would finish the work begun by the previous Local Authority and finish the footpath between Healy’s Bridge and Leemount Cross. The bulk of the work is done with very little required to bring this busy walkway up to standard.’ ‘That Cork City Council address the sharp turn on the hill leading from the Blackstone Bridge to Kiln Road as this is creating issues for the residents of the area and leads to dangerous situations when vehicles approach each other on this bend.’ ‘That Cork City Council would consider the provision of a footpath and additional lighting on the stretch of road from the entrance to Castle Close Avenue to Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal secondary school. This road is particularly badly served and has heavy pedestrian traffic serving as it does the secondary school and local walkers.’
As always I am happy to help or advise where I can so please don’t hesitate to contact me. Damian