Donal OHanlon

St Mary’s Lib Dem Councillors have been chasing up a number of issues on behalf of residents in the last few days.

We have asked the Council to ensure that Shelley Road and Butterstile Lane are adequately gritted during the current cold snap, for the safety of drivers and pedestrians, and in particular because of the buses that travel down those streets.

In addition, we have once again raised the issue of the abandoned garages on Shrewsbury Road. This is a long-standing issue, with difficulties in identifying land-owners to take responsibility for cleaning up and sorting out the garages. In recent weeks the area has become something of a hang-out for trouble-makers, and there was a fire there recently too. We’re hopeful that this can be progressed in the near future, and we’ll keep trying.

Also today we have once more raised the question of why the shops on Warwick Street remain vacant and abandoned so long after the fire which put them out of use. We have been told a number of different stories as to why the fire damaged building can’t be repaird, from problems with the insurance to an ongoing police investigation. Whatever the reason, the derelict building is used as the excuse not to re-surface Warwick Street, a road which is comfortably the most pot-holed in the ward.

It’s a shame that we have to apply quite this much pressure to get any action taken, or even to illicit a response from Council officers to legitimate residents’ concerns. But we will keep trying, and we’ll update you when we get a result.