A recent protest by locals at Cockhill Bridge in Buncrana.
The decision to erect temporary traffic lights at Cockhill Bridge in Buncrana is a stab in the back for the local community who have been campaigning for a pedestrian footbridge, they claim.
Local representatives met with the council on Monday morning to push for a footbridge as the most reliable, economic and permanent solution to the safety issues at Cockhill.
During the hour long meeting with the council and Inishowen councillors, Cockhill Bridge Action Group representatives went to great lengths to oppose the use of traffic lights.
They claim they would lead to more safety issues on the bridge and create major traffic mayhem and could prove to be more expensive in the long run.
In response, the group says councillors “expressed their outrage at our media and poster campaigns and close examination of the money trail in relation to development levies on new homes in the area.”
At one point in the discussion, when presented with a copy of the planning Schedule, it was claimed that the €40,000 in question never existed.
“How do you think we felt on Tuesday morning when we read in the media that €89,000 was reported to have been raised.
“Serious questions remain to be answered in relation to the various moneys raised and the councillors are unable or unwilling to show how the money was spent.
“If part of the money never existed, it begs the question in relation to the operation of development levies and planning approval,” said a spokesman for the CBAG.
It claims that opting for temporary traffic lights is more about the councillors saving face and preventing any possible litigation as a result of a traffic accident rather than a genuine desire to solve the road safety issue.
“Councillor Nicholas Crossan asked that we should all obhair le ceile (work together) on this project. How could this be so when he had not got the curtsey to convey the decision of the council to us, as he promised he would and remains uncontactble by our members.
“The most notable reaction from the councillors came when we questioned their handling of public money. Have the public not got the right to know. ?
“We in Cockhill Bridge Action Group vow to continue our campaign for a pedestrian footbridge for Cockhill.”
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