Plan is ‘in place’ to cope with a hard winter

Like the rest of the Province, Larne shivered in record sub-zero temperatures last December and January, with many older and disabled people housebound because footpaths had not been gritted outside their homes or in the town centre.

The subject was raised at a recent meeting of Larne Borough Council with Roads Minister Danny Kennedy, when Larne Traders’ Forum chairman John Shannon revealed that the two bodies had been working together and a plan was “in place” to address the problem should it arise again.

The issue had been broached by Coast Road Ulster Unionist councillor Maureen Morrow, who asked Mr Kennedy if an extension of the DRD road gritting programme implemented last year to get rural schools opened up again would be repeated this year, if necessary.

Mr Kennedy stressed that such secondary gritting applied only to schools closed because of road conditions and not for other health or safety reasons. He added that schools could apply by contacting the Department or the local Roads Service section office.