Laois County Council has been called upon to carry out works on the bridge in Castletown as it is almost fully blocked with silt.
The call came from Fine Gael Councillor Conor Bergin who put down a motion at a recent meeting of the Borris-In-Ossory/Mountmellick Municipal.
Cllr Bergin said that the works would complement the ‘great work being carried out by Castletown Tidy Towns and to enhance this important amenity’.
He said: “Silt has blocked three of the arches in the bridge which is a big problem.
“It has narrowed completely as a result and needs urgent attention.”
In response, the Area Office confirmed that a submission is being prepared to an Coimisiun Pleanala.
They said: “An application is currently being prepared for the weir, river and bridge cleaning works for submission to An Coimisiun Pleanala.
“The application will be submitted in Q1 of 2026.”
In a second motion, Cllr Bergin called for road surfacing works on the R445 at the Pike of Rushall to be re-done.
He was told that the contractor had accepted liability for for the failure and would resurface the section in Q2 of 2026.
Cllr Bergin said: “Fair play to the contractor here. This work was done in October but it came off straight away.
“The road is now actually worse than what it was and unfortunately extremely heavy rain fell just after the road was done.”
Finally, Cllr Bergin requested an upgrade of the footpaths in Borris-In-Ossory, describing how some have subsided.
He was informed that the Annual Footpath Works Programme would be agreed in early 2026 and the matter would be discussed there.
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