Causeway Coast and Glens Council extends partnership with DfI for snow removal and car park gritting

In 2021, council entered into a three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the department, in which council provided resources to assist in emergency clearance of snow in town centre footpaths and pedestrian areas during prolonged severe weather.

This MOU will expire this winter and DfI have proposed a renewal for a further three seasons, until 2026/2027.

At an Environmental Services Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 12, members agreed to accept the proposal, which will also see an increase to the existing payment received from DfI from £2,358 to £2,837 per season, in line with inflation increases between 2021 and 2024.

Areas which fall under the service provision include The Diamond in Coleraine, Portrush’s Main Street, and the Promenade in Portstewart.

Sinn Féin Councillor Sean Bateson said it was good that there was “some sort of structure between us and the road service”. He proposed accepting the new MOU extension.

DUP Councillor Dawn Huggins seconded the proposal but voiced concern that both council and DfI Roads were “struggling to deliver services with ever-stretched resources”.

An officer said resources would only be “put towards this action” if they were available to council.

They concluded: “Any time that has been activated we’ve tried to help them as much as possible where we have had resources available, so it has worked in the past and we’re quite content that if it happens again we can assist them as much as possible.”