Portlaoise former 'ghost estate' to get tree works and light repairs

A former 'ghost estate' in Portlaoise is to get a range of repairs and tree trimming, on request by a local councillor.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley has asked Laois County Council to turn its attention to Woodgrove and Woodgrove Mews.

She tabled a motion to the March meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District, listing all the issues. 

"This was one of the ghost estates left after the crash in 2008. The council has done a lot of work since. The main wall at the front had to be fixed, it was falling on the path. I thank Wes (engineer) for meeting me there, there's a couple of bricks falling out. You can see cracks. The leylandi trees give privacy but residents are looking for them to be taken out. They are a hive of activity, naturally young people go in there and have a great time.

"Into the estate, the trees on one side are completely overgorown and blocking the light on the opposite side of the road in one cul de sac. We put it to the residents to remove two or three and let in light, but they want them pruned.

"On the spine road going in, a couple of lights are needed, the branches of trees are overgrown too.

"The plaster is completely falling down on Woodgrove Mews wall, and in Market Mews. There has been huge work done too by Portlaoise Tidy Towns," Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

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Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald seconded the motion. 

In response, Laois County Council engineer Wes Wilkinson said that the boundary wall at the entrance is to be repaired.

He said the trees will be removed beside the entrance to Woodgrove Estate in the latter part of 2025.  The council's road designers will liaise with the council's landscaper Michael Buckley and get the trees cut back around the public lights.