Athy residents left without public lighting
Photo for illustrative purposes only
MORE than 200 residents in an Athy estate have been without adequate public lighting for four months, according to a local representative.
Kildare County Council said lighting works in the Clonmullion estate are substantially complete, but some of the new lights cannot be commissioned until the ESB installs three new electricity connections.
At the October meeting of Athy Municipal District, cllr Aoife Breslin proposed that the local authority contacts the ESB to insist that the three new ESB connections required for public lights in the estate are installed as soon as possible.
Senior engineer Chris Galvin issued the council’s written response, saying that the lighting infrastructure has largely been completed by the council’s contractor, but the ESB must now install the new connections before some of the lights can be commissioned.
Applications for those connections have been submitted to the ESB, and the council has been in contact with the company about the issue, with the local authority asking it to complete the work as quickly as possible.
The ESB controls the timing of the works, not the council.
The local authority said it recognises safety and security concerns and said it will continue to seek to have the ESB speed things up.
Once the connections are installed, the remaining lights can be switched on ‘without delay’.
A council official told the meeting: “We do have ongoing issues with the ESB, like everyone else."
Cllr Breslin told the meeting that there is a nursing home and retirement village adjacent to the estate.
She noted the length of time residents have been without adequate lighting, and struck a tone of urgency, warning that darker nights are coming.
She said public safety is at stake.
Cllr Breslin said that all of the municipal districts in Kildare are having issues with the ESB, and suggested that a letter be written requesting a meeting.
It was agreed that it would be raised at full council.
