Salt bins for eight Portlaoise estates

SALT bins will be provided at eight housing estates in Portlaoise, following complaints about lethal footpaths and road surfaces during the big freeze.

The salt bins will be located in areas where there are steep hills or inclines on the entrance roads to estates.

The news was confirmed by senior engineer Wes Wilkinson at the January meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District, after Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald asked for salt bins to be provided in the town area during snow and frost. She described footpaths in local estates as “lethal” during the sub-zero weather and said some residents were “completely abandoned”.

The eight proposed locations for salt bins are Ardán Glas, Ashton Manor, Borris Little (beside St Francis School), Highfield Meadows, Kilminchy, Rathevan Heights, Rossdarragh Hill and St Brigid's Place.

Cllr Fitzgerald told the meeting: “I had people on to me from St Brigid’s Place and they couldn’t walk on the footpaths. They couldn’t go on the roads and a taxi wouldn’t come for them. They were completely abandoned.

“We had absolutely no salt for anyone in Portlaoise who wanted to do it themselves. The footpaths in most of the estates were lethal. If we had a system where some of it was dropped to most estates, the people would go out and do it themselves.” 

While she acknowledged the hard work that was done during the crisis, Cllr Fitzgerald said the council had to become better equipped regarding issues such as salt storage and should consider dropping a load of salt to each estate.

She said: “People would at least feel we are doing something for them. We have to put in a plan that we use the tractors that we have around the place and make sure that they are employed and using this equipment in the snow. We really need to look at different ways we can do this.

"I don’t expect to buy machinery that costs a fortune that we might never use but we have to look at our storage of salt, how we can deliver salt, and how we can work with the residents’ associations and the farmers.” 

She was supported by Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, who asked that the Mountmellick road in Portlaoise be included in the list. She said she received calls from every estate and some people told her they bought salt and tried to do their areas themselves.

Cllr Dwane Stanley said the issue was exacerbated when people in the town heard that salt was provided in some areas, not realising that this applied to rural areas.

She said: “Farmers in rural areas were brilliant going out with salt. Next we start hearing people asking where the salt is for the Portlaoise area.” 

Acknowledging that great work was done, with the main roads kept open throughout the freeze, Cllr Dwane Stanley added: “And we didn't run out of any Brennan's bread!” 

Cllr Paddy Buggy asked the council to extend salting and gritting in the Portlaoise municipal area, particularly around Kyletelesha, Sluggies Cross and secondary schools.

Cllr Barry Walsh from Ballyroan said the reason salt was provided to rural areas was because they did not receive as much gritting as the Portlaoise area. He suggested a committee meeting to plan for future weather events, which could include assistance from farmers who wanted to help.