Lights out in Moate causing ‘absolute mayhem’

The lack of lighting in the centre of Moate is causing “absolute mayhem” in the town, claimed local Fine Gael Cllr Tom Farrell, at the February meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District.

In seeking an update on when the lights would be repaired, Cllr Farrell said people in the town “are asking questions” and he said he was not in a position to provide answers.

“The lights have been out in Moate for an extraordinary length of time,” said Cllr Vinny McCormack, “and we need to know when they are going to be repaired.”

Newly-appointed District Engineer, Willie Ryan, told the meeting that Westmeath County Council has a facility whereby any member of the public can report a lighting fault directly to the council’s maintenance engineers by simply logging onto the website.

“Rather than us getting regular updates about lights out in certain areas here in the council chamber from councillors, it is likely that lighting faults will be fixed much more quickly by reporting them directly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cllr Frankie Keena queried if the council is “on target” to open a ‘changing places’ facility in Athlone by the second quarter of this year.

A changing places toilet offers larger supported facilities that address the needs of people for whom current accessible sanitary accommodation is inadequate. These facilities enable people with complex care needs to take part in everyday activities such as travel, shopping, family days out or attending a sporting event.

Cllr Keena has been pioneering the provision of such a facility in Athlone and has submitted a number of motions urging the local authority to provide this much-needed service.

District Manager, Jackie Finney, assured the Fianna Fail Cllr that the council is indeed “on target” to provide the so-called ‘changing places’ facility in Athlone within the stated timeframe.