Cars driving across green to access homes in Laois Celtic tiger estate
Residents are forced to drive across a green area to access their homes in a Laois Celtic tiger estate.
The design of Ossory Court in Borris-in-Ossory never took into account that residents of a row of terraced houses might need vehicles to drive up to the front door, for heavy deliveries or disabled access.
People are now driving across the green, according to a local councillor who is requesting that Laois County Council fix the problem, as the estate is now taken in charge.
Cllr Conor Bergin has tabled a motion to the July meeting of Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District.
"The council has done great work on traffic calming at Ossory Court. The main issue is parking. I'm raising this again. The way the estate was built was badly thought out.
"There are 55 houses here and all of them are occupied, so there are 100, maybe 200 people living here. In Borris-in-Ossory we don't have transport, we have no pharmacy, so every household needs a car. I have seen residents driving across the green to get to certain houses.
"The green is huge. From numbers 22 to 25 there is no parking outside their door. It is scandalous that the developer got away with that in Borris-in-Ossory, where every house needs a car," Cllr Bergin said.
He noted that the Clúid housing agency owns up to a dozen of the houses.
"If we could get funding for parking bays it would make a huge difference. Particularly in winter, when people are in ill health, or they are bringing in coal or fuel, particularly in the tough winter we will be facing," he said.
Cllr John King supported the motion.
"This happened not just in Borris-in-Ossory. We had the same problem in Rathdowney in Daly Terrace. The council and the residents did acquire a property to park 15 or 20 more cars," he said.
It is the third time that the topic was raised in a motion, according to Cllr James Kelly.
"Where would you see it where house owners have to drive across a green to bring in furniture or a fridge? It's a disgrace. This needs to be done. People here have great pride in their green but in the winter they have to cut it up," he said.