COUNCILLORS in the Bandon/Kinsale Municipal District (MD) voted to accept the draft budget despite the proposal being unchanged from last year.

The €11.5m allocation was presented to elected members at a special meeting in Bandon this week by municipal district officer Brian Dunne.

Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) noted that while national legislation demands that MDs discuss a draft budgetary plan prior to convening as a full council, their decision would not prevent further funding being provided in the case of a larger county wide allocation.

He proposed the budget be adopted, stating that it was an endorsement of the staff who worked hard on the proposal. Cllr Ann Bambury (SD) seconded it while also accepting the legislation put them in a “very difficult position”.

She said she was in favour of the budget as long as any additional funding be implemented following the full council meeting.

Councillors raised concerns over certain aspects of the funding breakdown. The largest allocation was for road transport and safety, with over €9.5m proposed.

Within this, a sum of €5,544,292 was set aside for maintenance and improvement of local roads, €3,754,814 was allocated for regional roads and €31,322 for national roads.

A sum of €38,497 was provided for road safety promotion and education, which supports school wardens, while another €238,379 was allocated for costs associated with car parking.

Cllr Coleman said the €31,000 provided for national roads is not enough to properly maintain the N71 in the region.

He added that further funding would need to be sought through different schemes to ensure the necessary works are carried out.

Elsewhere, €255,693 was allocated to water services, including the provision of public toilets, across Bandon, Kinsale, Timoleague and Courtmacsherry.

Sums of €108,328 and €370,456 were set aside for litter management and street cleaning respectively.

For the 31 burial grounds across the MD, €80,935 was allocated for their upkeep. Cllr Coleman suggested the estimated €50,000 the council had saved by discontinuing a superloo in the district should be funnelled into the graveyard maintenance fund.

He said that with a budget like that “it’s a credit to the caretakers” for maintaining the graveyards the way they do. Cllr John Michael Foley (FG) agreed, saying: “€81,000 is very slack for 31 burial grounds.”

He added that the work in Darrara cemetery, which was carried out with Local Property Tax funding, was a great success and suggested the model should be continued to supplement the graveyard maintenance allocation.

This year’s safety of structures and places funding came to €132,727 while €438,827 was allocated for recreational areas in the district, with both Garrylucas and Garrettstown receiving a significant portion to maintain their status as blue flag beaches.

Meanwhile the arts programme, used to fund the Kinsale Museum, received a sum of €77,297. The allocation for piers and harbours came in at €400,188 while €31,143 was provided for coastal protection.

Cllr Marie O’Sullivan (FG) said that “this is everyone’s least favourite time of the year” and it can feel like “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.

However, she thanked the council staff for their work on the proposal, saying they must be “magicians the way they magic up a few bob”.

Cllr Bambury pointed out that this proposal did “not build in any inflationary contingency” and said she hoped that would change following the adoption of the county wide budget at full council later this month.

She warned that an unchanged budget doesn’t mean the provision of unchanged services, as costs continue to rise.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.