Flood gates 'desperately needed' in Laois town before winter

A Laois town desperately needs the installation of a flood gate before the winter comes, says a Laois County Councillor.

For over three years, Fine Gael Cllr John King has campaigned for the installation of an automatic flood gate in the man made pond between Rathdowney's main street and the Dawn Meats factory.  

The meat factory no longer employs after hours security staff, who are responsible for the operation of a sluice gate that allowed excess water to flow away from the site to the nearby river. During the winter nights, water is rising and flooding Pound Street and Newtownperry.

Cllr King has said that it is 'imperative' for works to be completed on the installation of an automatic flood gate as soon as possible, as an overflow of water leads to flooding issues on a local busy road.

Pictured: file photo of an automatic water gate.

"Funding was already sanctioned for this project in conjunction with Dawn Meats and the fisheries board," Cllr King explained.

Mr Adrian Barrett, Senior Engineer with Laois County Council, replied that the MD Engineer will liaise directly with the Rathdowney Councillor to progress this matter. 

Mr Rory O'Callaghan, Senior Executive Engineer with the Council, was unable to locate the funding, and questioned who had previously allocated the funding to this motion.

"I'm not sure who gave the funding, but we spoke about it, it is part of the works in the meat factory," Cllr King replied.

"There is an engineer who is available 24/7 and he works in conjunction with the Council in the event of flooding in winter time.

"A few times we have tried to contact him, and he wasn't available. You can't be available 24/7, so as a result the pond fills up," he explained.

Pictured: The Rathdowney road is regularly flooded during winter months.

"The overflow doesn't cause flooding in the area surrounding the pond, it backs up at Dunnes Stores and flows out onto the road, and comes down the street. It's amazing, it floods at the higher point. 

"We have spoken to the meat factory and they are willing to cooperate, we want to bring the fisheries on board as well," Cllr King said.

"We will investigate into who allocated the funding, but the way forward is that we have an automatic gate. When the water rises to a certain point the gate will shut and stop water flow. We can work on it together and come to some conclusion before winter," Cllr King finished.

Independent Cllr Ollie Clooney seconded this motion from Cllr King.

This motion was tabled at the April sitting of Laois County Council's Borris-in-Ossory / Mountmellick Municipal District.