The issue of hazardous footpaths – due to a lack of gritting or simply on account of their poor condition in places – was raised at a recent Development Committee meeting of Mid Ulster District Council.
Councillor Frances Burton (DUP, Clogher Valley) mentioned a particularly distressing incident involving an elderly lady.
“I have been registering my concerns about some of our footpaths, [including] the Caledon footpath in the front Main Street as you go to the shops,” Cllr Burton said.
“And this week an 86-year-old lady has fallen on the street because of the state of the footpath.
“I know this probably falls between Development and Environment, but I just would really like some report to whichever committee as to what we plan to do, because some of our footpaths are in a really bad condition.”
Related: ABC Council don’t get involved with gritting footpaths and car parks for fear of legal action
Councillor Malachy Quinn (SDLP, Torrent DEA) concurred with the DUP representative.
“I know probably a few of the Torrent councillors have raised this no doubt about the Coalisland footpaths this week.
“I had emailed in to the council just about how slippery the footpath is in Coalisland, especially now [that] the public realm has been finished,” said Cllr Quinn.
“We got a reply back basically to say the council has a policy that it has to be three days of zero temperatures before they start gritting.
“I’d like to see that policy reviewed because I was contacted by two parents. [I don’t know if] that’s Department for Infrastructure (DfI) policy or if that’s our own personal policy, but if we can have that looked into as part of what Frances mentioned there, and whatever committee it’s brought back to.”
Chair of Development Committee, councillor John McNamee (Sinn Féin, Cookstown DEA) explained that footpaths were just as hazardous in Cookstown when there is frost: “I have to say every town is the same. We have similar issues in Cookstown where people are slipping and falling, and you have to go over that period of time before they do start to grit, but we’ll pass your comments.”
Councillor Nuala McLernon (Sinn Féin, Torrent DEA) felt that the current policy on gritting needed to be reviewed: “I just want to reiterate what councillor Quinn is saying. There was maybe up to four people [who] fell in the town with the frosty conditions.
“I think that policy applies across the five main towns, we have to wait three days consecutively [when] there’s frost or snow.
“I think we we do need to look at it. It’s unacceptable that people are going to be limited when it comes to shopping in their town, when they are afraid to walk on the footpaths.
“I want this to be looked at to see what we can do [regarding] preventative measures.”
Cllr Burton pointed out that in raising the issue of hazardous footpaths in Caledon, she was not referring to frost.
“This was not because of frost, it was because of the condition. It’s a broken flagstone that goes forward and backwards depending on which end you walk on, so it’s a tripping hazard, and there’s plenty on the Main Street like it.”
