Cllr. John Paul O’ Shea (Ind) this week stood down as Chairman of the Mallow/Fermoy Area Committee as his term expired.
Cork County Council area meetings are held once a month, where the nine councillors representing the Mallow & Fermoy Electoral Areas and the Mayors of Mallow & Fermoy Towns meet with the engineers that cover the Mallow & Fermoy Electoral Areas. Councillors are entitled to submit a maximum of six motions in advance of the meeting on issues relating to services such as road maintenance, water services, wastewater services, housing etc. The engineers provide written responses at the meeting which is then discussed.
Reflecting on the year, Cllr. O’ Shea said “I am honoured to have been elected as Chairman of the Mallow/Fermoy Area Committee for the 2010/2011 year. It has been a very busy year in terms of ensuring that both Mallow & Fermoy areas advanced during this period. I am glad to say, we have seen significant progress during the year and I hope this can continue for the forseeable future”.
Some of the initiatives advanced in 2010/2011 year by the Area Committee include:
* Creation of an extensive Restoration & Surface Dressing Programme for our local and regional roads for 2011 * Allocation of an additional €5.6m to improve our National Primary & Secondary routes in the county * Town and village enhancement works to Fermoy, Rathcormac & Kildorrery * Creation of a three year road restoration programme for years 2011 – 2013 which will see an investment of over €20m in North Cork roads * Additional allocation of €7.9m to improve our local and regional roads in the county as part of the Government Jobs Initiative Document * Proceeding with the re-alignment works on both the N72 at Carrig & Castletownroche and the N73 at Annakisha & Glogher Waterdyke * Assisting the town of Buttevant securing a link to the proposed M20 * Completion of the Goold’shill Housing Scheme which has 125 new social houses and 88 new affordable houses available for the people of the area * Purchase of Mallow Castle and Grounds * Opening of Mallow Civic Amenity site * Commencement of the Mallow/Ballyviniter Regional Water Supply Scheme * Distribution of over €100,000 to community and voluntary organisations through the Amenity Grant Scheme.
Cllr. O’ Shea added “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the engineering staff for their professionalism and support during my term and also to the support staff who organise the meetings. I would also like to pay tribute to Cllr. Noel McCarthy who was Vice-Chairman of the committee and assisted me greatly during the year. I also want to wish my successor well over the coming year which will undoubtedly be a challenging one in the current climate”.
