24/12/2010
Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.
Response by South Dublin County Council to statement issued by Dublin City Chamber titled: ‘Poor Local Authority Response to Snow Demonstrates Why Business Rates Should Be Reduced’
South Dublin County would like to acknowledge the work to date by Businesses and Residents in clearing footpaths outside their premises and the Council recommends the expansion and continuation of this practice in dealing with the current weather situation.
In relation to the comment issued by Mr. Aebhric McGibney, Dublin Chamber Policy Director “The least we should expect in these conditions is that roads and footpaths are clear of snow and ice”, South Dublin County Council would like to clarify that since the adverse weather conditions commenced on the 26th November 2010, this local authority has activated snow clearing crews on a continuous basis and in many instances staff have been deployed throughout the night on snow clearing operations. There have been particular difficulties, when the snow has fallen midday as the snow ploughs and gritters are in conflict with traffic during peak business hours. It is important to understand that following the salting and gritting of the road network this work can be undone if fresh snow falls on snow which has already been compacted and therefore exacerbates the problem and makes the surface more difficult to clear.
Mr. Mc Gibney may not be aware that South Dublin County Council alone has salted/gritted and ploughed a total of 25,000 kilometres of roads in the county since the adverse weather commenced which is the equivalent of ¾ of the earth’s circumference. If you multiply this effort by all the local authorities, you can see the staggering commitment that the staff have displayed during this prolonged spell of extreme weather.
In addition South Dublin County Council has mobilised all available outdoor staff (approximately 200 staff) to the clearing of footpaths in the vicinity of hospitals, town centres, villages, schools and community facilities. This equates to 42,000 man hours in total which have been assigned to snow clearing duties since the 26th November 2010.
Exclusive of the scheduled routes mentioned above, there is a local road and estate road network of 500 kms and a footpath and cycle track network of over 1,000 kms in South Dublin County which cannot be addressed in any meaningful way by resources at our disposal while the levels of snowfall and sub zero temperatures continue. Many of the communities here in South Dublin County are now aware of the value of removing snow when it is still fresh and before it compacts and becomes an ice hazard.
In South Dublin County Residents and Businesses consume 70 Mega Litres of water per day and consumption has increased recently due to irresponsible usage such as leaving taps running and leakage due to burst water mains. South Dublin County Council’s Website- www.sdcc.ie profiles water consumption on a daily basis and we are currently running in excess of 150 litres per day per person. South Dublin County Council is appealing to consumers to reduce their water consumption and in particular, people are asked not to leave taps running. We ask all users to conserve water and reduce their consumption by 10%, which would provide an additional 40 days supply.
South Dublin County Council fully sympathizes with the hardship experienced by the business sector in these extra- ordinary weather conditions and wish to assure residents and members of the business community that we are making every possible effort at present to keep the county moving with the resources we have available.
In contrast with Mr. Mc Gibney’s comments, I would like to clarify that this Council, enjoys a positive relationship with our business representative body South Dublin Chamber which has enabled us to jointly focus on solutions and to avoid blame.
Joe Horan, County Manager, South Dublin County Council.