A £15,000 footpath refurbishment scheme is currently ongoing along High Street, Newtownbutler and after the existing footpaths were dug up, the work has not been finished leaving the street untidy and unsafe for pedestrians. 

Local Councillor Thomas O’Reilly said he is ‘very disappointed with the level of work that has  been carried out.’

“While I welcome initially that the footpaths need to be repaired because they were broken but now the work has been left unfinished. There are cones lying all over the place, footpaths unfinished for over a week now and it does not look inviting to stop in Newtownbutler with the current state of the High Street.

“ I do not think it is too much to ask for work to be finished and the footpaths to be reinstated after the flagstones were lifted. |t is a mess.”

A spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure said, “A £15,000 footpath refurbishment scheme is currently ongoing along High Street, Newtownbutler. This scheme involves replacing the existing flagged footpath with an asphalt surface and dropped kerbs to improve access for those with mobility issues.”

Cllr O’Reilly says the street has been left unsafe for pedestrians to use without the footpaths due to the volume of traffic using it. “People are being forced to walk on the street because there is no footpath. It is very dangerous because people have to walk on the outside of parked vehicles and that is a main road. 

“There are a lot of cars and heavy lorries going up and down the road and it is not safe. It is not acceptable that two weeks after work has commenced that the footpaths are lying unfinished.”