The scene in Garvey's Close, Annaly Park earlier today
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06 Feb 2026
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06 Feb 2026
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Another 'challenging year' for north Longford roads budget
The local authority district engineer addressed councillors in Granard during the monthly area meeting last week and said they 'can't finalise anything' as they have no idea of their budget and he expects another 'challenging year'.
David Coppinger stated that they have started some advance work on some drainage projects since Christmas and carried out other 'mundane' and low-cost work but planning ahead is very difficult.
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"The technical staff are involved in procurement at the moment, health and safety and traffic management.
"We don't know yet what our budget is or what we'll get this year so we can't finalise anything, but I have a note that I anticipate 2026 will be another challenging year.”
Mr Coppinger said last year they just about managed to stay within budget because they had purchased materials in previous years and got 'good value'.
The district engineer also provided an update on the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) and he said there are 49 open files and last year they managed to complete 30 roads.
The LIS allows local councils to improve private and less-used roads.
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Mr Coppinger said “they have no idea how many [roads they] will get through this year' as they have not received any notification of the budget.
“I would make one comment that I make every year around this time and that is it's no good getting the budget in July or August.
"We need the budget in March because again last year we got additional money in July, but we barely managed to spend it.
"At one stage we thought we would have to send back money because it came too late."
Mr Coppinger said the new link road, also known locally as the Ulster Bank Road', has been open for traffic since late autumn with 'no complaints' and an official opening at a later stage.
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Cllr Padraig McNamara and Cllr Colin Dalton thanked Mr Coppinger for the report and the ongoing work.
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