Kent Bridge funding reallocated to other projects

It was a case of amnesia for both councillors and Cork County Council staff at a recent meeting of the Fermoy MD as an update was sought on the ‘possibility’ of a report on a boardwalk for Kent Bridge in Fermoy, and funding for it. The response from the council was that there was no money for such report: however, this is not the case as money was allocated to just such a project over two and a half years ago.

In February 2022, €60,000 was earmarked from the NTA (National Transport Authority) for a study into a new boardwalk/footpath/cycleway on a cantilevered overhang alongside the bridge. The funding was also to provide a signalised junction across the bridge at O’Neill Crowley Quay (the chaotic junction interchange by Hanley’s/Kent Bridge/Fermoy Books). 

No mention of this funding was made in the Fermoy MD meeting last month, and instead the council said that it was a ‘Long Term Capital’ project that was ‘aspiration only’. No councillor present seemed to recall that funding was already allocated, despite them saying in February 2022 that they wanted local input on this boardwalk report.

Full story in this week’s Print & Digital Edition