Craters leave residents housebound on Kells lane

Residents of Ethelstown Lane outside Kells are furious that planned road works on the lane will not now go ahead because of cutbacks. Amid warnings that a child could drown in one of the extensive potholes on the road, they expressed extreme anger at the news that Meath County Council's road programme has been suspended because of the shortfall in income from the household charge in Meath. The residents point out that before the household charge was ever mentioned, they had been told the work would be done this year. Regina Geraghty warned that a children could drown in the potholes, because they are so deep. "I have children living down the lane, but they cannot walk up to see me or even cycle. "The potholes are so deep that when it rains a child could drown in them. The water would come up over their wellies," she said. "I hate having to drive through the potholes. No matter how easy you go, the car gets a terrible shaking. The road is in a dreadful state and we were promised that it would be done." Meath County Council last week said it has had to suspend all road repairs, due to the county's 48 per cent shortfall in revenue generated from the household charge. The council has been informed that its funding will be cut by €2.6 million because of non payment of the household charge. Some 52 per cent of householders in the county have paid the charge. A spokesperson for Meath County Council said they were examining their funding sources, which includes funding of approximately €335,000 for class three roads. "Pending clarification of the council's overall funding situation, all expenditure on road repairs that requires funding from Meath County Council's own funding sources has been suspended," she said. Ethelstown Lane resident, Sinead Fitzsimons said she was very angry to hear there is no money for the work. "We had already been told there was €43,000 allocated to carry out the work. What has happened to that? The situation is getting worse every day," she said. She cannot let her sons out to cycle on the road because of the many potholes. "I have a daughter with cerebral palsy and there was talk of getting her a walking aid, but I cannot bring her for a walk because of the state of the road. "Some of my family live nearby, but we cannot walk over to visit them at night, because you'd break your neck on the road," she said. Yvonne Geraghty said the situation was unreal. "It is a disaster. Something has to be done. It makes me angry that they are blaming the household charge, because we were told the money was already there. Everyone here is angry," she said. Eamonn Duffy points out that there are 30 families living on the lane and many of them have children. "It is incredibly dangerous and cars and jeeps are being destroyed. It is costing me a fortune, I have to repair my jeep so often," he said.