COUNCIL INACTION EXPOSED

Debris around houses in Coney Island after 3 successive tidal surges

Coney Island resident kevin lappin and cadogan enright during recent storms

I HAVE POSTED HERE BELOW A SCANDALOUS SERIES OF EMAILS WHERE COUNCIL ARE REFUSING TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO CONEY ISLAND.

CLEARLY THE SDLP AS THE LARGEST PARTY IN COUNCIL COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS IF THEY WANTED TO.

CLICK TO SEE LETTER FROM LOCAL RESIDENTS HERE 

I will keep adding to this as the saga unfolds until they are embarrassed into doing something about this scandal.

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Cadogan Enright <cadogan@enright.ie>
Date: Sun, Feb 9, 2014 at 11:53 PM
Subject: reworded notice of motion
ToJohn Dumigan, CEO of Council and to Maria McCarthy SDLP Chair of Council

Dear John and Maria

in the absence of a reply on this issue, I am therefore proposing a new wording for the Notice of Motion. I note that this is the seventh notice of motion since the last AGM from myself that council management have sought to suppress.

Amended wording reads;

“Council notes that province-wide agreements, arrangements and protocols reflected in the Councils emergency plan for dealing with floods and other emergencies currently prevent some villages being offered assistance if the Roads Service does not recognise the roads serving those villages as public roads. Council management have explained that they do not provide assistance either as they follow the ‘Lead Agency’ in emergencies of this kind.

For instance Roads Service is unable to provide flood protection to Coney Island during tidal surges, so Down Council would not either.

Council directs management to change these ‘province-wide agreements, arrangements and protocols‘ to ensure that all ratepayers can expect not to be excluded from Council assistance in emergency situations by the bureaucratic rules of other agencies”

I am copying other Councillors for information.

Councillor Cadogan Enright

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Cadogan Enright <cadogan@enright.ie>
Date: Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: notice of motion
To: John Dumigan, CEO of Council
Cc: Maria McCarthy Chair of Council and SDLP
John
Thank you for your response

Can you explain how we can protect areas like Coney Island if, as you suggest, we can only follow the lead of other Agencies?

Let me understand what you are saying;

1. If the Road Service refuses to support Coney Island because these 40 houses are on a private road (as it did in the recent storms on theFriday and the Sunday) we have to follow their lead

2. you are suggesting that Down District Council will work to support the Roads Service in preventing floods in other villages and refuse to support Coney Island

3. We know that the 40 houses are our ratepayers, and expect us to provide service to them in the same manner that we do to other areas. You are saying that they are incorrect in this expectation

I dont see how we have any choice but to run with my notice of motion in this regard. I am prepared to accept a rewording if it will help you, but we cannot abandon a community in our area  to floods because we are slavishly following an incorrect policy of another government agency

The problem is that your “province-wide agreements, arrangements and protocols” that you refer to below are wrong, and need to be amended.

Cllr Cadogan Enright

On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 10:01 JohnDumigan> wrote:

Cadogan

Your proposed Notice of Motion will, if adopted, by the Council, cause us to break province-wide agreements, arrangements and protocols.  The Council’s role in an emergency is to follow the advice/guidance of the Lead Agency.  Depending on the emergency the Lead Agency may be the DRD, Health Trust, Ambulance Service, Fire Brigade, Rivers Agency, etc or the Council.   To adopt your proposal would mean we would have a priority action that may well affect our ability to provide the support asked of us by the Lead Agency.  In the last flooding emergency the Lead Agency was the PSNI and they provided us with important information and advice on the areas of greatest risk and where we should focus our limited resources.

In an emergency we collaborate with others and collectively decide what needs done and who should do it.  Last week our role was to support the DRD in the distribution of sand bags.

The Council has no sand bags of its own, other than to protect its own property and its not our role to distribute sand bags to the public.  There is a province-wide protocol that sets out who does what regarding sand bags and we signed up to that.  To adopt your Notice of Motion would mean we wouldn’t be following the protocol.

Finally, I do not believe that the response to an emergency is a matter of the Council, it is an operational matter and for that reason and the other reasons set out above I will refer your comments to the Council’s Emergency Team.

John Dumigan
Clerk and Chief Executive

Committee Clerks
Down District Council
Downshire Civic Centre
Downshire Estate
Ardglass Road
Downpatrick
BT30 6RA

Date: 04/01/2014 18:55
Subject: notice of motion

Dear Sarah,

I would like to put a notice of motion before the next council meeting please

The wording is as follows

“That the Councils emergency plan for dealing with floods and other emergencies will be amended to deal with the protection of ratepayers in areas that other agencies are unable to provide assistance.

For instance Roads Service is unable to provide flood protection to Coney Island during tidal surges. It should therefore be the priority of the Council to ensure that these few areas be attended to first, before going to the assistance of other agencies.”

Thanks a lot and happy new year Sarah

Cadogan