Portarlington Tidy Towns tour town with senior Council official

A Portarlington Tidy Towns representative toured Portarlington with a senior official from Laois County Council and a local Councillor during the week.   

Independent Cllr Aidan Mullins is hopeful that people in Portarlington will soon begin to see positive improvements in the town following the meeting. He said together they can start with “quick win items” which are easily achieved and will improve the look of the town before moving on to the larger tasks.   

He toured Portarlington with the Council’s Municipal District Manager along with Caroline Whitelegg from Portarlington Tidy Towns Committee on Wednesday. 

“We discussed areas of the public realm and streetscape in the town which could be improved such as upgrading the appearance of roundabouts, filling planters and boxes with suitable flowers and plants such as those at the Library and Credit Union, installation of appropriate sculptures which reflect the town’s history etc.”, said Cllr Mullins. 

Longstanding concerns about the condition of some of the buildings in the centre of Portarlington were highlighted during the visit.  

“We also pointed out eyesore buildings in the town such as the former AIB site on upper Main Street and former pub Rhythm and Booze in the Market Square. Firmer action is required to deal with this dereliction”, Cllr Mullins explained. 

“It was agreed that the Tidy Towns Committee would prepare a list of items they would like to see on an action plan and the Council Municipal Manager agreed to commence tackling those issues,” said Cllr Mullins. 

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“The Tidy Towns Committee is a local voluntary group which has worked tirelessly for years to clean up the town and improve its appearance and deserve great praise for their efforts. 

The next step is to meet with local Council officials to agree and implement the above plan of action which should commence over the coming months,” said Cllr Mullins.