Flooding scenes in Letterkenny spark calls for gully clean-up before winter hits
Recent flooding in Letterkenny has renewed concern over blocked drains and gullies across the town and wider municipal district.
Councillors want urgent action before autumn leaves and further heavy rain make the problem worse.
Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly said parts of Letterkenny had flooded on a number of occasions in recent weeks, including the Ballyraine Road .
He said he had also seen gullies with grass growing up through them and had received calls from residents in several housing estates about overflowing drains.
Cllr Kelly recalled seeing the Principal St Eunan’s College in Letterkenny trying to help children cross a flooded road where water was running over raised tables.
“They were using umbrellas to try and unblock them,” he told the October Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District meeting.
Mayor of Letterkenny-Milford, Cllr Pauric McGarvey, also called for problem drains to be identified before more severe weather hits.
He asked whether the Council could create a simple reporting system, similar to the public lighting service, where people could drop a pin on a map to show the location of blocked gullies.
The Council said urban gullies are inspected annually under the Drainage Maintenance Programme, while drainage works in rural areas are carried out where problems are identified and funding is available.
Members were told the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District covers around 1,200km of roads, making it difficult to keep on top of every drain and gully.
They were also told gullies can become blocked very quickly during autumn, sometimes within half an hour when leaves are falling heavily.
Cllr McGarvey said some gullies were already badly clogged before falling leaves became an issue.
“Some of these are full of muck. The grass is growing out of them and you couldn’t get another leaf into them,” he said.
The local authority said it would try to get as much cleaning work done as possible, as quickly as possible.
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