In recent weeks we reported that antisocial behaviour had brought damage to a set of cast iron benches in the People’s Park.
One suggestion to combat such behaviour was to introduce lighting to increase visibility in the dark hours and to enable pedestrians to pass through safely.
During the December meeting for the Metropolitan District, Civil Engineer for Waterford Council, Catherine Cunningham, delivered a presentation to the elected members during the last meeting for the Waterford Metropolitan District.
The presentation outlined a proposal to introduce 42 LED lighting posts around the perimeter of the park’s walkways, along with a number of lights along the main pathways, with the exact placement and quantity to be decided later.
According to the presentation document “the objective of these proposed works is to introduce lighting into the People’s Park to facilitate the safe movement of pedestrians through the park at low light levels”.
“This proposal involves the installation of new lighting standards to the perimeter path network and fountain area of the park to be delivered in a manner to minimise the disruption of this iconic recreational park.”
According to Ms. Cunningham, two submissions were received during the public consultation process, both of which were supportive of the development.
Despite this positive reaction, the planning department is now requesting two further reports be completed before the work begins. Although Waterford’s elected members welcomed the proposal in principle, many expressed discontent with how long the process took and the prospect of further delays.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Jason Murphy said he first brought this proposal to council nearly six years ago.
“I think it was back in 2019 that I initially proposed this and €100,000 was put in place for the 2020 budget, and other Councillors have raised this since,” Cllr. Murphy said.
“I’m delighted to see it progressing. But I would like to know a timeline of when we will actually see the lights working in the park seen as it has been six years since it was put into the budget?”
Adding to these comments, Councillor Seamus Ryan reiterated the sense of frustration and also called for an exact timeline to be made available.
“I do have a number of concerns. We raised this five or six years ago and it is only now coming to us. My reading of this is prior to works commencing there is going to be a series of assessments carried out, delaying the project even further,” he said.
“We’re going to see an architectural heritage impact assessment, we’re going to see an agricultural assessment, and an updated lighting report.
“My question is, how long will these new assessments, that weren’t mentioned up to now, how long is all that going to take before we can get the worse commenced?” Cllr. Ryan questioned.
“I remember raising this five or six years ago, that I began a motion to this effect, which was supported unanimously by this Council. And now these reports are being requested. They should have been requested five years ago,” Cllr. Ryan added.
To this, Senior Architect for Waterford Council, Michael Murphy, replied that the Council were already looking to procure the necessary equipment and have no recourse but to follow the recommendations of the planning department.
“Unfortunately, or fortunately, these conditions have come out of the planning process, and in fairness to our colleagues in planning they are legitimate concerns,” Mr. Murphy stated.
“I can assure you we will not hold up the process,” he added.
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
