Portlaoise eco wheelchair walkway used as car 'rallying track'
Laois County Council's new path in Kilminchy attracts anti-social behaviour
A new wheelchair accessible nature walkway in Portlaoise is being turned into a "rallying track for joyriders", a local resident has claimed.
Kilminchy housing estate on the Dublin Road is getting a new walkway around its three small lakes, so that the community can get close to nature safely while out walking, jogging or with a buggy or a wheelchair around the full perimeter.
The 1.5m wide path costing over €35,000 is being installed by Laois County Council, mostly covered with a €30,000 Government grant that was sought and won by the Kilminchy Homeowners association.
However the pathway has become a target for "joyriders" before it is even finished, according to a resident who contacted the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
Tyremarks beside the new path in Kilminchy.
"The most recent incident of this happening was this (Saturday) afternoon when a small silver car drove off Colliers Way across the mud left after trail construction, around the third lake and then across the grass onto Lakeside Gardens.
"This car was cheered on from Colliers Way by 5 hoody wearing young lads," the resident claimed.
Tyretracks on the green in Kilminchy housing estate.
The new pathway is taking longer than promised to be built. The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) grant was approved in 2022 and at that time the eight week job was expected to be done by the end of November 2023.
Laois County Council later said in a council meeting that it would be installed by the end of September, 2023.
However by February 2024, only one section so far is finished.
The council say they will take over the management of the path once it is completed.
"Works regarding this lakes trail didn't commence until late 2023 and now there is a 1.8-metre-wide trail which encircles Kilminchy's third lake but no lakes trail around the other two.
"Works around the 3 lakes have now stopped with the lands around this trail left churned up in a total mess. Kilminchy residents have no idea why work has stopped," the resident further claimed.
A comment has been requested of Laois County Council.
The lakeside trail is part of a wider Green Infrastructure plan by Kilminchy Homeowners, with the objective of making the estate "an eco friendly community".