Cnoc Na Gréine lighting to be raised at Naas MD
Residents say they keep getting 'bumped' from the Council to Airtricity and back when they try to have non-working lights fixed, and they claim that nobody will take responsibility for the service.
The areas have not yet been taken in charge by the Council, and residents say that appeals to the developers of the estates, built during the pre-recession construction boom, don't do any good either.
"We've been trying to get this resolved for two years or more now," says Noel Crowther, treasurer of a resident's group in the estates which collects money for grass-cutting. "But we're getting nowhere. Airtricity has the maintenance contract for street lighting for Kildare County Council, but they keep referring us to the Council. When we contact the Council, they tell us to contact Airtricity."
Mr Crowther says the situation about the lights is thrown back at the group when they're trying to collect money for grass-cutting. He also says children can't be let out to play after dark in the winter, even though it can still be early. "We're all concerned that somebody will be attacked in areas which aren't properly lighted," he adds.
A walk around the maze-like estates at night shows many areas where non-working lights leave pools of darkness. On the non-residential back road into the estates, the one used by pedestrians to and from Kilcullen, six of the 12 lights are currently not working.
Cllr Rob Power has a motion before Tuesday afternoon's meeting of the Naas MD asking the local authority to resolve the 'serious and potentially dangerous issue' whereby residents are 'almost entirely without street lighting'.
