Demand made to knock Laois house built in 'horse and cart' era

A Laois house owned by county hall on a busy national road that was built during the era of ‘horse and cart’ transport has to be knocked down for safety reasons and to allow new homes to be built.

That was the view of public representatives for the Laois town at a recent meeting with County Council officials where they made clear that action must accelerated.

Cllr Ollie Clooney and Cllr James Kelly, both Independents, sought action on the house at Kelly’s corner where the Derry Road meets the N77 Kilkenny road.

Cllr Kelly said there are already homes on the Derry Road with more houses to be built but the residents face a problem at the bottom of their road due to the houses which protrudes onto the N77.

“There is a serious road safety issue there. There are trucks that carry that road,” he said.

Cllr Clooney demanded that council push ahead with their plans to knock down the house which has been vacant for years.

“I have been talking to the chief executive (of Laois County Council) and I asked him to make the house’s removal a priority - that house has to go,” he said.

He subsequently told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that the building is owned by the council which had a plan to knock it and develop four service site on the property.

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Cllr Clooney also warned about the risk of a serious accident.

“When this house was built I’d say there was nothing but horse and carts on the roads and now there’s big trucks,” he said.

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Cllr John King, Fine Gael, said the houses would have been built before planning laws existed.