Council extends agreement for clearing ice from town centre

AN agreement between the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads and Fermanagh and Omagh Council over the clearing of town centre footpaths and pedestrian areas of snow and ice is to be extended.

The move was ratified at a meeting of the council’s Environmental Services committee. It has already been in place since 2018, and will now be extended until 2029.

Under the agreement, the DfI will provide the council with salt free of charge to treat the footways in Omagh and Enniskillen town centres.

During periods of extreme conditions following heavy snowfalls or prolonged freezing, council staff may assist the Department with footway clearance and salt and grit spreading on an agreed schedule of footways, depending on the availability of resources at the time.

Under the arrangements, a series of footpaths on the streets of Omagh will be cleared.

They include part of Market Street, Scarffe’s Entry, High Street, parts of Mountjoy Road, John Street, James Street, Castle Street, George’s Street Drumragh Avenue, Sedan Avenue and the Dublin Road.

The meeting was told that the criteria on which the footpaths have been chosen is based primarily on footfall, and that the extension of the agreement to five years is seen as more efficient than the previous three-year term.

The gradient of the various streets was also used as a criteria for the selection of which streets the agreement should cover.