Electric car chargers needed to drive tourists to Laois

Electric vehicle charging points are needed in a village at the 'heart of the Slieve Bloom's to help boost tourism in Laois.

So insists Cllr Conor Bergin, Fine Gael, at a recent meeting with Laois County Council officials, when he called for Camross to be the location of such a station.

He tabled a motion at the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District meeting in which he called on the Council to engage with the ESB and seek the installation of a station in the village for the benefit of local tourism in the surrounding area.

Cllr Bergin said the nearest charging stations to the Slieve Bloom mountains are located in Portlaoise, Abbeyleix, Ballacolla and Mountmellick.

However, he said thousands of people already visit the Slieve Blooms the number due to grow due to the bike trail. 

He made that point that access to the mountains is not possible without a car adding that with fuel costs rising more people would switch to electric cars. 

He believes the case for charging points is further enhanced by the rising interest in eco tourism and the drive among such visitors to cut their the carbon footprint.

He said the Poet’s Cottage in Camross would be an ideal location for a charging point with an added benefit that visitors would spend some time and money in the village.

“There has to be more of these EV charging points around the county and particularly for tourism,” he said.

Cllr John King, Fine Gael, added that EV points are needed and he hoped that within three years there would be a charging point in every town.

He suggested that Laois County Council should liaise with big 

Cllr James Kelly, Independent, supported the motion. He said a single charging point may not be sufficient if the supply is low meaning it can take hours to charge.

“There has to be two or three charging points wherever they go in”, he said.

He said fundraising is underway in Mountrath to install charging stations.

“I don’t know if we can wait for funding to come down the line for every town and community,” he said.

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In reply, Laois County Council’s road section said it will contact the ESB to see if it would consider installing a charging point at locations such as Camross.

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The Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District was also by Mr. Farhan Nasiem, Acting Senior Executive Engineer, that the use of a pilot EV charging point in Portlaoise is being monitored with the information gathered used to inform the roll out of stations around Laois.