Councillor establishes his own 'hedge fund' to finance Council cuts!

Parts of East Galway are the envy of the rest of the county as rural roads are currently having their hedges cut as part of an initiative organised by a local county councillor.

Every member of Galway County Council has a fund which can be allocated for various projects in their particular area.

But Ballinasloe-based councillor Michael Finnerty has dedicated the whole €20,000 allocation into the cutting of hedges on some of the main rural roads in the area.

The fund, which also includes €2,000 allocation towards attending conferences, has been used to cut hedges on some of the main rural roads in the Kiltormer, Lawrencetown, Clontuskert and Eyrecourt areas.

And it is intended that the hedge cutting will continue until the fund has been exhausted but it means that some roads that were closing in with overgrown trees and hedges have now been cut back.

“Some of these areas have not been touched in three years. There was a major safety issue with some of these roads because of their overgrown nature.

“As far as I was concerned, safety on the roads is paramount and that is why I allocated all of my notice of motion money and conference money to the cutting back on hedges . . . anyway, I don’t go on junkets”, Cllr. Finnerty added.

Galway County Council have stated that the majority of hedge cutting that will take place will be confined to the national primary and secondary routes because they are strapped for cash.

It has resulted in many minor roads being ignored in the process and there are stretches where two cars cannot pass because of overgrown vegetation. Some motorists have complained about their vehicles having been scraped by briars that haven’t been cut back.

Cllr. Finnerty said that this was just the start of a major hedge cutting initiative. He has given an undertaking that his notice of motion money for next year will also be used for the same purpose.

See full story in this week's Connacht Tribune.