A ‘dire situation’ where raw sewage is seeping out onto a main road near a Laois village was highlighted at a Laois County Council meeting recently.
Fine Gael Cllr PJ Kelly raised the plight of Ballybrittas and described how the problem with sewage has existed for the last 45 years.
In his motion, he asked Laois County Council to call upon Irish Water (now Uisce Eireann) to attend a meeting.
This would be between representatives of the Ballybrittas Village Sewage Action Group, Council officials and local Councillors.
Cllr Kelly said: “We met with the committee and Councillors recently and everyone is in agreement on this.
“The situation is dire and there is no room for percolation.
“In one of the newer tanks, when it rained heavily, the sewage seeped out onto the Dublin Road.
“We are talking about 53/54 houses here and it is not fair.”
Supporting Cllr Kelly, Sinn Fein’s Aidan Mullins said: “The pipinng and infrastructure is there with the pumping station.
“So I would like to know what the cost of sorting everything out is as I don’t think it would be that much.”
Cllr Kelly’s motion was supported by fellow Councillors Padraig Fleming, Paschal McEvoy, Ben Brennan and Aisling Moran.
In a separate motion, Cllr Kelly asked that measures to rectify constant flooding at Sallyford Cross in Ballybrittas be taken.
He also called on the Council to open water cuts and clear a roadside drain that has been blocked between Grange Upper and Raheenduff heading towards Ratheniska.
In both cases, engineer Philip McVeigh said he would meet Cllr Kelly at the locations to see what could be done.
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