Galway Bay FM Newsroom - Cllr Shelly Herterich Quinn expressed her genuine concern for the Area Staff of the Athenry Oranmore Municipal District on foot of the recent announcement of funding that has been granted to the area under the National Transport Authority's (NTA) Active Travel Measures 2021.
"This truly is wonderful news. I compiled a wish list for our area Senior Executive Engineer last January and I was thrilled with the outcome." Cllr Herterich Quinn remarked.
"However, I am seriously concerned about the ability of the current staffing level in my area to deliver on the projects that were approved."
Large Catchment Area
The population of the catchment area of the Athenry Oranmore MD is approximately 32,000, second only to Tuam MD with just over 33,000. However, at present, the Athenry Area Office is comprised of 2 engineers, 1 technician, 1 administrative support, and 2 Community Wardens.
Cllr Herterich Quinn said of the staffing levels, "In January this year, the government announced funding for 248 Active Travel Team posts to be distributed among every local authority in the country.
To date, Galway County Council has received no allocation of staff, yet the City received an allocation of 22. This is a huge issue as the amount of work that is now involved in sourcing contractors to carry out all the wonderful Active Travel improvements is going to be enormous."
The councillor went on to say, "The 2021 Roads Programme for the County is due to commence shortly now, therefore all the engineer's time will be taken up with rolling out that programme.
We urgently need more staff in the Athenry Oranmore Area and the delay in allocating an appropriate number of new staff to roll out the Active Travel Measures is going to delay the success of the project and impact on delivery times."
Calling on Minister Ryan
In January this year, Minister Eamon Ryan asked the County and City Management Association (CCMA) to coordinate among all local authorities in relation to the Active Travel Teams plan as developed by the NTA. Four months down the line many Councils have received their allocations and are actively rolling out their Active Travel Projects.
"I'm afraid I have no choice but to call on Minister Ryan and request his intercession. We are in limbo, the area staff are in limbo and we need to get clarity."
Cllr Shelly Herterich Quinn intends to make representations to her Government party members and Minister Eamon Ryan.
