Wexford’s allocation of active travel funding ‘smells to high heaven’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The allocation of active travel funding throughout Co Wexford “smells to high heaven” according to the cathaoirleach of the county council. Under the active travel scheme the National Transport Authority (NTA) funds local authorities to develop walking, cycling, and wheeling infrastructure in the county.

This year Wexford received a total of €3.75m under the scheme.

However, none of that money will go towards projects in the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) with €3.15m going towards schemes in the Wexford Borough District, €350,000 on safe routes to school schemes (Enniscorthy, New Ross, Taghmon, and Rathangan), and the remaining €350,000 on staff costs.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the GKMD, Councillor Joe Sullivan did little to hide his displeasure at how the money had been divvied up.

“It’s hard to understand how four districts can get money and one doesn’t,” he said. “That doesn’t add up, it smells to high heaven. Are we victims of politics here? We have big bruisers at both ends of us; Wexford at one end and Wicklow at the other. This is distributed by central government not at council level.”

According to district engineer Joanne Kehoe this wasn’t for the lack of trying.

“We applied for funding for the maintenance of our bicycle lanes and we also made applications for the safe routes to school,” she said.

As part of the active travel funding Wexford County Council (WCC) a further €500,000 has been awarded for bus stop enhancement programmes and there remains hope that Gorey will receive some of this money.

“We are working on the design for the new bus shelters in Gorey and we have requested some of that funding to assist with that,” said Ms Kehoe.