Minutes of November General Purpose Meeting of Sligo Borough Council held in the Council Chamber, City Hall, Sligo on Monday 16th November 2009 at 8.00 pm.

IN ATTENDANCE:

• Councillor J. McGarry, Mayor of Sligo (in the chair)
• Councillor D. Bree,
• Councillor D. Cawley,
• Councillor V. Cawley,
• Councillor A. Gibbons,
• Councillor M. Lyons,
• Councillor M. McGarry,
• Councillor T. McLoughlin,
• Councillor C. MacManus,
• Councillor S. MacManus
• Councillor R. O’Grady
  

OFFICIALS PRESENT:

• Ms. P. Gallagher, A/Director of Services
• Ms. M. Blowick, Meetings Administrator
• Ms. L. McConville, Executive Planner
  

APOLOGY:

• Councillor J. Devins
  

1.  PLANNING APPLICATIONS RECEIVED

A list of Planning Applications Ref 09/66 – 09/70 circulated on 11th November 2009      were read and noted.

2. PLANNING APPLICATIONS GRANTED

One Planning Application was granted during the period 14th October 2009 and 11th November 2009. This was noted by Members.

3. CONFERENCES

On the proposal of Councillor Declan Bree seconded by Councillor Matt Lyons a list of Conferences circulated with Agenda on 11th November 2009 was unanimously approved.

4. NOTICE OF MOTIONS

The following motions were dealt with:-

On the proposal of Councillor Tony McLoughlin seconded by Councillor David Cawley it was unanimously agreed “That traffic calming measures be provided at the following locations:

• Cairns Road
• Cemetery  Road
• Tonaphubble Road
• Cleveragh Demesne Road

On the proposal of Councillor Tony McLoughlin seconded by Councillor Chris MacManus it was unanimously agreed to note report from the housing department on the number of boarded up houses in the Borough Council housing estates”

On the proposal of Councillor Jim McGarry seconded by Councillor Sean MacManus it was unanimously agreed “That Sligo Borough Council explore how our public library can be used as a local resource centre for people who are unemployed and are looking for information on local jobs, training and CV or job seeking advice” 

On the proposal of Councillor Jim McGarry seconded by Councillor Veronica Cawley it was unanimously agreed “To ask the Council to engage in a clean up of the lower reaches of the Garavogue River and of the river estuary.  Also to investigate the viability of re-claiming land to build car parking spaces and a recreational area” 

On the proposal of Councillor Jim McGarry seconded by Councillor David Cawley it was unanimously agreed “That Sligo Borough Council commits itself to providing a cycling lane on the Inner Relief Road from Summerhill to the Junction at St. Johns Terrace.  The funding should be sought from the Department of the Environment to ensure the safety of all cyclists”

On the proposal of Councillor Sean MacManus seconded by Councillor Arthur Gibbons it was unanimously agreed “That Sligo Borough Council commence the process of examining the possibility of providing a footbridge over the Inner Relief Road adjacent to the Churchill/Upper John Street junction”.

On the proposal of Councillor Chris MacManus seconded by Councillor Sean MacManus and it was agreed “That Sligo Borough Council calls on the Government to:

1. Make the necessary provisions for the introduction of an effective and consistent sanctioning system;
2. Amend the Domestic Violence Act 1996/2002 to allow non-married parties better access to protection and develop guidelines on the granting of protective orders;
3. Re-introduce and resource a role for the Probation Service in family courts producing safety reports and risk assessments to inform judges’ decisions; ensure the supervision of child access where necessary to protect against further abuse;
4. Prioritise and guarantee core funding to frontline services including refuges, outreach, counselling, court accompaniment and transition housing on a multi-annual basis to allow for the strategic development and delivery of service;
   and further Sligo Borough Council Commits :
5. To introduce a sufficient quantity of purpose built emergency accommodation – as none currently exists in this region;
6. To greater provision of supported transitional housing development and an adequate supply of social units.

An addendum was added to the motion which was then unanimously agreed “That this Borough Council requests the County Manager to consider leasing the former Kazelain building, for use as a refuge for those suffering from domestic violence.  Further, that the Borough Council agrees to consult and discuss with related agencies, such as DVAS, as regards to this building’s suitability for this purpose”

Motion Number 23 was deferred

On the proposal of Councillor Chris MacManus seconded by Councillor Declan Bree it was unanimously agreed “That Sligo Borough Council confirms its intention to close and remove a disused alley(s) running adjacent to the Cemetery Wall in the Stirrups Estate and further will seek to increase the height of the boundary wall between the Cemetery and the wider Meadowvale area.”

On the proposal of Councillor Veronica Cawley seconded by Councillor David Cawley it was unanimously agreed “That a study be carried out on the feasibility of closing of the right hand turn onto Ballast Quay which would allow two lanes of traffic to progress forward on the mid block and allowing all traffic turn right on to the Finisklin road using the filter lane.  The following addendum was proposed by Councillor Veronica Cawley seconded by Councillor David Cawley and agreed unanimously “to contact the NRA to carry out the survey”

This concluded the business of the meeting which ended at 10.15pm