Stonepark footpath due to be completed

The footpath at Stonepark is set to be completed following the allocation of funding at last week’s meeting of Longford Municipal District.

A notice of motion submitted by Cllr Gerry Hagan proposed that the footpath be finished “in the interest of public safety”.

“It would be terrible if we have an accident. I see parents walking with buggies and small children along that road,” said Cllr Hagan.

Local engineer Eamon Bennett confirmed that the footpath would be completed but there was a question of funding that needed to be hashed out.

“The first scheme was done as a community scheme where the residents met with the landowners and acquired the land,” he said.

“There is approximately 270m left to complete and it’ll cost about €45,000 to match the existing work.

“Subject to funding, we can do that. For the existing work, we took out the ditch and put up a fence. The only question is funding and how we’ll do it.”

At the previous meeting of Longford MD, a large number of monies was allocated to community organisations in the area.

However, funding applications for festivals were put on the long finger pending the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

It was announced earlier this month that all festivals and events of 5,000 people or more would be banned in Ireland until at least August.

As a result, numerous festivals in Longford that applied for community funding will not go ahead.

“Might I suggest, as there won’t be festivals for the foreseeable future, we will have a lot of funding not going to those that could be put into that,” said Cathaoirleach of Longford MD, Cllr Seamus Butler (FF).

“It’s done as a community project, so community funds would be suitable for that.”

His council colleagues agreed that the €45,000 needed to complete the footpath should be taken from the community funding that is still available.

Read also: More than €45,600 allocated to community groups in Longford MD