Local elections are looming and some versions of the facts around the Davitt Street roadworks are stretching the truth a fair bit. Here are the facts and see how our Councillors voted.
Fact No. 1 - Eight or Nine Months of Roadworks are Not Needed
Absolutely everyone wanted the roads to be resurfaced. The Davitt Street footpaths needed to be repaired. However, the need to fix the footpaths only happened because Tipperary County Council didn't require the contractors who did the water works last year to repair the footpaths properly.
The Council has added in a vast amounts of additional civil works that are actually not needed at all. An engineer from the Council said on local radio that the works for traffic calming were required because of the Transport Infrastructure Ireland satefy rating for Davitt Street and Church Street, based on accident statistics. This was utterly false. In the four years leading up to our Councillors voting for these works, there was not a single incident of any level of seriousness reported to the Gardai on either Davitt Street or Church Street. The Roads Safety Authority statistics confirm this.
Fact No. 2 - Councillors First Told Residents That They Supported Them, But a Few Months Later Voted in Favour of the Works
The residents sent a deputation to the March 2015 Municipal District Council Meeting. Noreen Morey and Mary Margaret Ryan outlined the concerns of the residents and asked for the Councillors' support. The minutes of the meeting state: "The deputation was supported by the District Members".
One resident received a letter from a Councillor, who said:
"I will do all I can to have this project cancelled for all of the reasons you have outlined"
That Counciller went on to vote in favour of the project and did not write again to the resident before doing so.
Here is how the voting went:
| Works proposed by John Crosse - Donohill - Fine Gael |  |
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| Seconded by Michael Fitzgerald - Golden, Cashel - Fine Gael |  |
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| Supported by Mary Hanna Hourigan - Cappwhite - Fine Gael |  |
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| Supported by Martin Browne - Cashel - Sinn Fein |  |
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| Supported by Roger Kennedy- Cashel - Fianna Fail |  |
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| Absent: Denis Leahy - Tipperary Town - Independent |  |
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| Absent: Tom Woods - Cashel - Independent |  |
So, with only one Councillor from Tipperary Town (who was absent), five Councillors who do not live in the town and who do not have to live with the consequences of their decision, voted in favour of largely unnecessary works that affect the residents of the town and users of the the N24.
Fact No. 3 - Our Councillors Did Not Ask the Obvious Questions When They Voted in Favour of These Massive Works
The works involve chanelling N24 traffic through residential areas that are not able to cope with 7,000 traffic movements per day. These areas include O'Connell Road and Canon Hayes Park. According to the Minutes of Council meetings, Councillors who voted for these works did not raise any objection to this.
The environmental consequences of these diversions through residential areas, including pollution, noise and vibrations, according to Council meeting records, were not raised by our Councillors and have not been assessed or communicated to the residents who live in these areas.
The consequences for businesses and employment in premises affected by the works were not raised by our Councillors when they voted for the works. There is a proposed temporary roundabout at the top of O'Brien Street that threatens 12 jobs. Some Councillors are now saying that they are surprised by this, yet they voted for the works without asking about such serious consequences.
Fact No. 4 - Davitt Street is Only the Start. The Council is Going to Dig Up Main Street and Fr Matthew Street When it is Finished There
Councillor Michael Fitzgerald announced on local radio that the Council will carry out similar works on Main Street and Father Matthew Street when the Davitt and Church Street works are completed. The current works are due to finish in September, which means that the Main Street works will run well into 2020, if not beyond that.
This all means that the town will effectively be a construction zone for two years. This will entail diversions of N24 traffic through parts of the town that were never intended to serve as a national main route. March4Tipp pleaded with the Council to
"Stop digging up our town"
However, very shortly after the massive March4Tipp marches, the Council rushed to sign a legally binding contract for the Davitt Street works.
If we vote the same way again in the May local elections, do not be surprised if we continue to get decisions like these.
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