Councillor Anthony Feely stands in a deep pothole on the Tully Road, Garrison
A POT HOLE on a rural road in west Fermanagh is wreaking havoc in a local community, with numerous vehicles suffering broken rims and burst tyres.
The troublesome pot hole is located on the Tully Road, Garrison and has been an issue of concern with local road users for over two months.
Local Sinn Fein councillor Anthony Feely has called for caution on the road, especially leading into the darker evenings.
“I have been approached by four constituents who have broken rims, burst tyres and been left stranded due to this pot hole. It is on a rural road, on a corner and it is really not the best or safest place, to be left in this situation.”
Mr Feely reported the issue to Transport NI two months ago, but since the time the hole has increased in side and no action has yet been taken.
“I have had to take actions into my own hands and draw attention to the pothole by placing cones around it. Although local people are now used to it, strangers on the road are not and run the risk of damaging their vehicles.”
He added: “I am aware Transport NI are under strict budgetary constraints and may not see this pothole as urgent, however those who have already damaged their cars as a result of this are taking action through the vehicle damage compensation claim route.”
A spokesman for DRD responded: “The Department is facing a £60 million resource budget pressure in 2015/16 over half of which will fall on TransportNI. As a result routine maintenance operations have had to be scaled back considerably and it has not been possible to employ external contractors since the end of March.
“This budget pressure has created an immediate impact on the delivery of routine maintenance services including patching. The Department’s internal workforce is continuing to provide a skeleton routine maintenance service which prioritises the maintenance budget for the busier and more heavily trafficked main roads in the first instance.”
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