It would be hard to justify the cost to the taxpayer of filling the lake at Esker Hills housing estate in Portlaoise with water, when it would just evaporate again.
That was the comment of director of services Kieran Kehoe in response to a request to have the pond level maintained and topped up with water.
At the Portlaoise Municipal District Meeting Cllr Jerry Lodge had a motion calling on the council to ensure that a reasonable level of water is maintained in the attenuation lake at Esker Hills to ensure wildlife is not adversely affected by water shortage.
A response from engineer Wes Wilkinson said the pond at Esker Hills is designed to attenuate surface water during periods of rainfall and is not specifically designed to retain water during dry periods.
“Following recent rainfall, water levels have risen again,” Mr Wilkinson said.
“There was no recent rainfall, at all,” a bemused Cllr Lodge said. “Showers,” Mr Wilkinson replied.
A huge amount of money has been spent protecting wildlife around the county, in areas such as Parc an Phobail.
“The little lake has seven swans. The seven swans have flown because there is no water in the lake,” Cllr Lodge said. “Even the ducks have migrated up to the Triogue,” he said.
“It would only cost a small amount of money to refill the lake,” Cllr Lodge said. He asked if there were any plans to do this in the future.
The council did carry out an estimate of the cost, which found that costs would be high, and out of the question, director of services Kieran Kehoe said.
Disappear
He said it would be spend money on it, “only for it to disappear again. We couldn’t justify spending taxpayers’ money on it”.
Cllr Lodge felt the position was “fair enough”.
Esker Hills looks “fantastic” Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said. “With the swans and ducks there, the residents are delighted,” she said.
“The wildlife will come back,” Cllr Willie Aird said. “They won’t stay where there isn’t fresh water. They will migrate to where there is fresh water such as the Triogue and out to Ballyfin, and then they will come back,” he said.
The work done by Cllr Lodge and Portlaoise Tidy Towns was complimented by municipal cathaoirleach Cllr John Joe Fennelly. “You are doing a tremendous job. Keep up the good word,” he said.
