Laois Councillor questions legality of stones outside house

A councillor questioned the legality of homeowners leaving large stones outside their properties at a recent meeting. 

The issue arose as Cllr Ben Brennan tabled a motion asking:  “That Laois County Council give an update on the stones outside a house in Coolnariska, Killeshin.”

Cllr Brennan said “this is going on a while and someone is going to get hurt.” 

He told the meeting that he believed “they are out two feet or more on the road. The road is narrow enough.” 

According to Cllr Brennan, “if you meet a car there now at the moment you have to stop and someone has to reverse back.”  He claimed the neighbours were “anxious” about it and said, “it’s not right.” 

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In his response to the motion, Senior Executive Engineer Philip McVeigh said: “Laois County Council issued a notice by registered post to the property owners registered address to remove the roadside hazard. The notice was returned indicating that the property owners had gone away. A notice will now be hand delivered and if no action is taken then legal

proceedings may follow.”

When quizzed about people leaving ornamentation outside properties, Mr McVeigh said “if it is a roadside hazard we have to take action on that.”  However, he said if it isn’t deemed a roadside hazard the council don’t have an issue with it.