Lack of working street lighting in Athlone a 'very serious problem'

Instead of two calls a week, a local councillor claimed he's now fielding three calls a day purely on the “very serious problem” of street lighting that is not working all around Athlone.

Raising the issue under any other business at Athlone Moate Municipal District on Monday last, an exasperated Cllr Aengus O'Rourke listed a plethora of areas all over town in darkness for some time.

For instance, he said all the lights along the army barracks are out over three months, many more are not working in Retreat Park, St Columba's Terrace and Custume Place, several are out of order in St Francis Terrace and much of Sr Bernard Quay is in darkness.

While the Fianna Fáil representative told the meeting that he understands that contractors do the repairs and the ESB provide the power, the responsibility often falls between them or the infastructure is not up to scratch.

“The public see it as our problem, not the contractor or the ESB,” he commented, asking whether it was possible to have a meeting with both parties in a bid to improve the situation.

His party colleague Cllr Frankie Keena said there are three lights out in Baylin for two and half years which he understands is an ESB issue, while others are out on Bower Hill Road, which he said was also an ESB issue in relation to ducting.

Other lights are not working along the Clonown Road, Garrycastle and close to The Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Cllr Keena added, saying that a meeting with the ESB and the contractors is needed, but support is also needed from the district.

Mayor Cllr Louise Heavin said when she tries to bring her kids out for a walk they get very scared of the many dark spots along the way. She agreed that a meeting would hopefully be able to improve matters.

In terms of Retreat Park, Cllr O'Rourke said a lot of elderly people live there and it's not good enough that it's in darkness in the depths of winter.

He suggested it should be incumbent on the ESB to communicate with their customers. “No information, no lights, not good enough,” he summed up.

District Manager Willie Ryan then showed members a website (deadsureapp.com) where the public can report street faults and the advantage of this is that it goes to the contractor first, rather than the council.

“I've used it for six months,” replied Cllr O'Rourke. His party colleague Cllr Liam McDaniel said it was a good way to report the problem, but the question is when are they going to be fixed given there are so many faults.

Meanwhile, Director of Services, Barry Kehoe, admitted the council is going to have to look at investing more and more in public lighting in the future, which is a basic public service, and is a countywide problem.

While repairs can often be simple, the difficulty can arise because of a deficiency in infrastructure, much of which is coming to the end of its life or pillars or ducts which are not compliant with the current electrical standards.

He conceded it will be hard to rectify the bigger issue without major investment, and they are going to have bite the bullet on that.

Some €1m has been spent in recent years but much more will be needed.

Mr Kehoe said he suspected practically all of the infrastructure is deficient and he would welcome a meeting with the two parties involved.

Concluding the discussion, Cllr O'Rourke asked Mr Kehoe if there is a way of communicating with the people as they assume it a council problem.

The top council official very firmly said it is a council service and they need a system to let people know if it is not resolved within a timeframe.

“It's our problem we have to advise them (the public) of the issue,” he ended.

The District Manager Willie Ryan said that the council can write to both parties seeking a meeting on the issue.