‘Madness’ to have a shared road surface in Tipperary housing estate with no footpaths for pedestrians
Concern has been raised over a shared road surface in a new Tipperary housing estate that would see both cars and pedestrians share the same space, with no footpaths for people to walk on.
Councillor Declan Burgess raised the issue with the surface at the Coopers Gate development in Cashel at the July meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District, calling for a more proactive approach from the local authority when dealing with housing developers.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Burgess welcomed the fact that 44 homes were going to be provided as part of the development, but said that not a single footpath had been built in the estate.
"That development doesn’t have one footpath, not one footpath has been delivered by the developer there, and I think this local authority has to be much more proactive as our planning process when engaging with these developments,” Cllr Burgess said.
"We have a situation where there’s going to be a very busy housing estate and it’s a shared space between vehicles and pedestrians, which is crazy,” the Fine Gael councillor hit out.
"How can a development go forward with no footpaths, I think it’s madness to have 44 busy homes with no footpaths," Cllr Burgess added.
In response to the Cashel-based councillor’s concerns, a representative from Tipperary County Council’s planning department said that the housing estate was designed in line with national guidelines.
"We want to assure the members that that estate was designed in accordance with the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets, and it is designed around a shared surface, as opposed to having separate footpaths and vehicular passageways,” the council’s planning section told the meeting.