Co Mayor John Paul O’Shea has accused the TII, formerly the NRA, of “giving the two fingers” to the dairy industry as well as to hauliers and commuters after its refusal to pay more than €400,000 to upgrade Annabella Roundabout, claiming the decision was a recipe for traffic disaster.
Speaking at the Northern Division meeting of Cork County Council on Monday, Cllr O’Shea claimed that TII’s refusal to add an additional lane to the roundabout at Annabella would lead to traffic chaos. Dairygold is carrying out a major development at its milk processing plant in the town which, when fully operational, will result in an additional milk tanker using the roundabout every 90 seconds, according to the councillor. When planning permission was granted for the milk plant, Dairygold was asked to pay a development contribution of €514,000 for changing the roundabout to accommodate the additional HGV traffic, but appealed to An Bord Pleanála, which ruled it should only pay €91,000 towards the project. The row now centres on the outstanding €423,000 and who should pay for it. Cllr Dan Joe Fitzgerald said it was vital that a settlement was reached as there were already lengthy tailbacks at the roundabout during peak periods.