Walkability audit finds footpaths leading to nowhere and trip hazards in Old Johnstown Village

Meath Age Friendly Alliance hosted a walkability audit of Old Johnstown Village on Wednesday last. The event was organised through Alliance chairperson, Michael Finnegan. Cllr Linda Murray Nelson and Cllr Francis Deane attended with local residents and members of the Executive Older Persons Council to audit the footpaths and accessibility. They will now make a report to the council on their findings.

Cllr Linda Nelson Murray said they had seen a lot of footpaths that needed to be redone on just the short walk from the church to the funeral home in the village.

"We saw how difficult it can be for older people, it is shocking."

A lot of footpaths need to be done, and there are places where there aren't footpaths. There are also metal pieces sticking out of the ground that are a trip hazard.

"We also went from the Church round to the Chinese takeaway. There is also a problem with parking in the area and and cars park perpendicular to the footpath."

The Old Johnstown Village Community Group are doing great work - among the things they have done, are putting out salt bins to make things easier in bad weather. It was good to meet them and do this with them," she said.

Cllr Francis Deane, who is chairman of the Old Johnstown group said that there were a number of trip hazards in the area.

"I'd also like to see HGVs banned from the village and table top calming through the village. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed including wheelchair accessibility."

Cllr Deane also said the provision of CCTV was also very important for the village and he hoped it would be signed off on shortly.

Frances Murphy, a member of the Old Johnstown Group, said that for those who were born and reared in the village it was interesting to see other people's reaction to the footpaths.

"There is a lack of footpaths, footpaths leading nowhere because there are obstacles in the way and in some cases footpaths are level with the road. We have asked for bollards to be extended further into the village. Tractors pull up onto the footpaths which are sinking and breaking down.

"There is no footpath at all between the village and Casey's Cross. We have an aging population in the village and it was interesting to see how it all effects them and the hazards people encounter."

"It would be great if these things were sorted out," she said.