Councillors seek relaxation of rules on fireplaces and stoves
Future storms will all carry the threat of further disruption to electricity, water, and communications systems, and Westmeath County Council needs to start planning for this, members of the council have told the executive.
Suggestions voiced during the January meeting of the council, held three days after the storm, included improved tree management, a ban on the erection of power lines within 20 metres of trees, and relaxation of the policies steering people away from the installation of fireplaces or stoves within their homes.
The discussion saw, also, praise for the work done by Westmeath County Council and the ESB, but some criticism of eir and Uisce Éireann.
Cllr Vinny McCormack praised the ESB and council teams but was disappointed however, with both eir and Uisce Éireann, saying their response was not “up to scratch” when compared with that of the council and the ESB.
He was also somewhat disappointed that the elected members had not been notified that the council coordination centre was being set up, because it would have streamlined the reporting process.
Cllr Tom Farrell was deeply concerned about the danger being posed by roadside trees, and he felt the entire issue needed to be considered by the council’s transport strategic policy committee, and that farmers needed to be brought on board for the discussion. He said his information from ESB sources was that 70 per cent of the outages were due to fallen trees.
Cllr Johnnie Penrose supported calls for action on trees – “and it has to be done fairly quickly,” he said, saying that in the next storm, even more damage will be done as so many trees have been loosened in the ground.
He also expressed sympathy for people who had no access to an open fire while the power was off, and felt the policy of building houses without chimneys needed to change.
Cllr Frankie Keena praised the council staff and commended the establishment of community hubs.
However he was dissatisfied over the outages of water supply, and expressed concern over the number of trees that have branches overhanging the road. He also noted that a lot of trees that fell on the Athlone Relief Road, were under the control of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), and said they need to be part of the conversation as well.
Cllr John Dolan extended thanks to all in the emergency services, and local community centres and sports clubs that opened up to allow people charge phones.
He went on to state that as he is involved in dairying, he had bought a generator for his farm, and it cost €5,000 “and runs most things”: he could not understand why there was not a generator at each water treatment plant.
“I think it's an absolute disgrace,” he said.
He also felt they should revise the County Development Plan to allow new houses have some sort of solid fuel heat supply, going on to say there should be no trees on the sides of the roads.
Cllr John Gibbons said Uisce Éireann hadn’t covered itself in glory, and he said their communications system for emergency calls needed upgrading.
Council Cathaoirleach Liam McDaniel, was impressed at the spirit of neighbourliness demonstrated in his own area and further afield, with those who had power and water inviting others up to cook or shower if they wished.
He was happy there was a coordination group set up, but said that the problem for people in many areas was that they could not receive any communication: “I couldn't get Facebook, I couldn't get a phone call. So I don't know how we communicate to people out there who are in that situation,” he said, going on to wonder also if there should not be grants made available to enable people to buy generators.He also pointed out that thanks to the colour-coded alert system, people had been aware ahead of time that the storm was coming.