Busy year for local authorities as activities widen despite constrained funding

Local authorities in the midlands are now service providers in a broad range of fields, including arts and culture, tourism, litter control and much, much more. The 2009 Annual Report of the council presented to members this week provides an interesting snapshot of the extent of the activities of local authorities in the region last year. The impact of the recession, the collapse of the construction industry and the credit difficulties experienced by developers combined to spark a massive fall in the number of planning applications received by local authorities in the county, down from around 1,125 to 641. Despite the fall in planning activity, the council's legal and enforcement section remained active, with 164 complaints received during the year. A total of 129 warning letters and 50 enforcement notices were served and 14 prosecutions initiated in the courts. Moving on the area of eduction, a total of 383 higher education grant applicants were administered by the council in 2009. Some 293 new grants were approved and another 371 existing applicants received a total of €153,000 in grant and subsistence funding in 2009. Libraries are another traditional core of the local authorities' services but their role has expanded in recent times, through the provision of internet access and learning courses. Membership of the library service in Westmeath was at 14,809 in 2009, up 12% on the previous year. In total 321,482 books and audio-visual items were lent through branch libraries- estimated at 3.81 items per head of population. Some 37 artists received bursaries to develop their own professional practice and work during the year, with 32 local arts groups also receiving funding. A number of other art initiatives were funded during the year, including artist residency schemes, the Midlands Regional Arts Magazine, a youth film festival and a midlands youth orchestra. In sporting fields, the council completed a playground facility at Coosan Point, Athlone and continued to support the operation of an FAI Football in the Community Development Officer and two GAA Club Support Officers The council has prioritised the greater involvement of community groups in its work - and the Westmeath Community and Voluntary Forum now has 542 affiliated groups. During the last year, the group prepared a submission for the white paper on crime and worked on a submission with the county council proposing the Hill of Uisneach as a world heritage site. Tourism is a key revenue generator for the county, and during 2009 Co. Westmeath Tourism Ltd, which is part funded by Westmeath County Council, embarked on a series of promotional events. It's estimated there were 105,000 - 110,000 overseas visitors to Westmeath generating €36m in revenue. Belvedere House Gardens and Park is one of the county's key attractions and continues to attract over 160,000 visitors a year. One of the highlights of 2009 was the official opening of the new €40m Westmeath County Council headquarters in Mullingar. The building comprises 74,900 square feet of new offices and includes the refurbishment of the old county buildings. The project was design to incorporate low energy concepts including natural ventilation and the maximisation of natural light in order to optimise heat and lighting efficiency. Meanwhile, Westmeath County Council spent €88m on road improvement and maintenance in the country during 2009. Funding of €71m was provided by the National Roads Authority while the Department of Transport and the council itself funded the remaining €17m. In total during the year 106 kilometres of road were surface dressed, there was 56km of road restoration work and 10km of surface restoration. Expenditure of €12m was undertaken on maintaining water service infrastructure in the county last year. This allowed the council to produce 35,000 cubic metres of drinking water a day from four water supply sources. However, up to 43.8% of this water is unaccounted for, with the vast majority of this disappearing through leakage. During the year the capacity of the water treatment plant in Athlone was increased from 2 millions gallons per day to 3 million gallons per day at a cost of €4m. Work continued on the provision of a new sewerage scheme for Glasson/Ballykeeran and Coosan at a contract value of €4.8m, while the installation of some 3,650 meters on all non-domestic premises was completed by the end of December 2009. Meanwhile, the council spent €1.2m on the control of litter in the county during 2009, the majority on scheduled street cleaning. In relation to waste, some 3,900 tonnes of recyclable materials were collected at the recycling centres in Athlone and Mullingar as well as at the bring bank network around the county. However, 78.4% of household waste still ends up in landfills, according to council statistics. A €100,000 grant scheme for improvement works on 19 community graveyards was completed in 2009, while there were 29 properties on the council's derelict sties register at the end of 2009. The Fire Services are part of the council's range of activities. Last year, Westmeath and Athlone Fire Services responded to some 1,0004 incidents. The number of chimney fires was up 11% on the previous year, while the number of house fires was down by 13%. There was also a significant increase in unnecessary fire alarm activations at 22%. There were 16 instances of false alarms carried out with malicious intent, compared to 56 false alarms notified with good intent. Fire fighters also visited 1481 children in 65 third classes in primary schools throughout the county, while the fire stations were visited by another 1,005 children. Over 700 smoke alarms were also distributed by the fire service to various homes in the county. Westmeath Civil Defence members had a busy year, particularly in the latter months, having been mobilised and deployed in Athlone to assist with flooding relief on November 24, remaining on duty until December 18. This duty comprised 198 person days and a total of 2,351 hours of duty. Meanwhile, Athlone Town Council reported that it had purchased 10 homes in 2009, and with casual vacancies a total of 41 applicants were housed. The central heating programme provided in 140 homes and with its completion ion 2009, all council homes are now centrally heated. Westmeath County Council's 23 council members attended a total of 42 conferences during the year, at a cost of €64,618 (see separate article). Statistics produced by the council, as part of its annual report, indicate that 4.5% of working days were lost to sickness absence (certified and uncertified)