by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
A LOCAL county councillor has welcomed the news that
Donegal County Council is to site a new salt barn in
Carn to help treat frozen Inishowen roads next
winter.
Labour representative Martin Farren proposed the
move after ‘horrendous’ driving conditions and
extremely low temperatures hampered local motorists
for long periods last Christmas.
“I don’t want to see a repeat of what happened last
winter it was an horrendous time for everybody. As
councillors we were told last December that there
was very little salt available for our roads and I
don’t want to be put in that position again,” he
said.
Moville politician Farren said Inishowen will be
better prepared for freezing weather conditions this
year.
With a salt warehouse in Carn currently being
advertised for tender, the NRA is confident it will
have more than six times as much salt at its
disposal this winter as it did twelve months ago. It
is planned that there will be 200,000 tonnes of salt
available in 2011 compared to only 30,000 tonnes in
2010.
It is expected that Donegal will secure in the
region of 15,000 tonnes of salt, with the majority
set to be stored in Stranorlar. Up to 1,000 tonnes
will be housed in Carn.
“I welcome the new salt barn in Carn and we must
ensure that we are prepared for every eventuality of
weather here. It is my job to highlight the concerns
of people in Inishowen and to make sure that we
never see a return of signs saying – Road Ahead Not
Salted,” Cllr. Farren said.
Farren laid the blame for last year’s failure at the
door of the NRA but praised the council staff, who,
he said, carried out a fantastic job with limited
resources. |
