‘I was out in Heywood in Ballinakill, and to be honest, I was absolutely shocked to see the damage’ – Local Councillors raise climate concerns

The Laois Climate Action Plan 2024 – 2029, which was drafted last year, was formally adopted by Laois County Council earlier this week at the Council’s January meeting.

Two Laois Councillors – Sinn Féin Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley and Independent Cllr Aisling Moran – used this time to raise climate concerns with the Council.

“I was out in Heywood in Ballinakill, and to be honest, I was absolutely shocked to see the damage,” Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

“You have wild areas there, where there was cutting away of habitats and the whole environmental ecosystems – absolutely contrary to Government policy.

“They have the place chopped to bits and I can’t understand the reason.

“There was a pile of muck absolutely streaming down into the lake and I don’t know how anyone can justify what went on out there.”

Further investigation on the matter will be scheduled.

Cllr Aisling Moran then raised the matter of cycle lanes, saying Laois County Council should install cycle lanes at every primary school in the county to encourage children to cycle to school.

“On country roads it’s just too dangerous to let kids cycle to school.

“Maybe we as a Council could liaise with land owners about bringing cycle lanes in and maybe they could give up a couple of feet on the inside of their ditch just to let kids cycle to school safely.

“We’re talking about climate change and trying to take cars off the roads – you can’t take a car off the road if you don’t have another way for a child to get to school.”

In response, Director of Services, Mr Simon Walton said:

“We are likely to get a grant of €3 million again this year from the National Transport Authority (NTA), but as with recent years, the principal focus of that spend will be on the larger urban centres.

“Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick will continue to be the focus, and each of those is subject to planning consent in those areas.”

Mr Walton said “the funds simply aren’t available” to provide cycle lanes at every school in Laois.

“Last year (Laois County Council) got €3.2 million, and we in our Municipal District of Graiguecullen-Portarlington got €70,000 out of that. Portlaoise got over €2 million,” Cllr Moran said.

“(The Council) put a state-of-the-art cycle lane the whole way from the town centre to Junction 17, and nothing for anywhere else in this county.”

SEE ALSO – ‘We’re going to smother our villages again and our small towns’ – calls for reduction in toll charges for heavy goods vehicles