Councillor suggests Electric Picnic pay for new lighting on Laois road

Councillor Paschal McEvoy has suggested that Electric Picnic pay for new lighting on the Cork Road in Stradbally, amid calls for greater visibility in the area.

Cllr McEvoy raised the motion at the November meeting of the Graiguecullen/Portarlington MD, asking Laois County Council to install two new street lights on that stretch of road.

As more new houses have been built along the road and it is used by attendees of Electric Picnic, Cllr McEvoy pointed out there is an increased need for more lighting on the Cork Road as it is very dark.

Supporting the motion, Cllr Vivienne Phelan added that is also commonly used as a walking route for pedestrians.

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Cllr McEvoy suggested that as it is used for Electric Picnic every year, that the festival could pay for the works as part of the fees for their license to be granted.

Cllr Aisling Moran, who also supported the motion, agreed with the suggestion of encouraging Electric Picnic to install lighting on the road.

However, Cllr Phelan said the challenge with this is that Electric Picnic tend to provide temporary structures whereas this is infrastructure that is needed on an ongoing basis.

The Roads Design Engineer for Laois County Council said that Road Design would meet with Cllr McEvoy at the location and existing public lighting will be assessed with a view to installing new lights if deemed necessary.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme