Culvert works in one County Kilkenny town must go ahead, but how can they least impact those living & working there?

At the monthly meeting of Kilkenny County Council last Monday, February 18, Cllr Michael Doyle called for a deferral of rates for businesses in Thomastown that might be impacted by 16 weeks of works on the culvert that are due to start on March 1.

His plea was supported by a number of colleagues though others expressed concerns at how it might be financially supported & if it would open floodgates for other communities to apply for similar.

It was turned down, for a number of reasons.

On Wednesday, February 20, the council held a drop-in information session at its area office in the town where people could see the plans for the works & discuss them with the contractor & council officials.

However, things got heated when a request for works to be carried out overnight appeared to be denied, with some wanting to protest there & then as they believed overnight works would lead to a shorter duration. (Read about that here)

Cllr Breda Gardner says she asked the group to give the council & contractor a chance to look at their concerns.  A second, closed meeting will take place next Monday where representatives of the locality will discuss the plans with council officials.

Our Edwina Grace went to Thomastown to find out what those there are thinking about the situation: