New lights needed to curb anti-social behaviour in shopping area in Tipperary

Additional street lighting should be provided at the shopping area in Elm Park, Clonmel, to curtail anti-social behaviour, Cllr Pat English has stated.
He told a meeting of Clonmel Borough District that this was an extremely dark area, where gangs of youths congregated.
The Gardaí had stated that additional street lighting would make a big difference.
In his report to the meeting, District Engineer Eoin Powell said he had inspected this location at night and noted that three existing lights within about 40 metres either side of the shopping area would benefit from being upgraded, and it is proposed to do this.
Also, the existing light directly across the road from the shops is currently not working, and this would be repaired.
In addition, it was noted that the poles on the opposite side of the road were too far apart, and an extra pole will need to be installed, said Mr Powell.
“The Borough has a very small budget for public lighting and this is for the maintenance of existing poles only, such as poles that are in a very poor structural condition and in need of immediate repair, a pole that has been knocked down by a vehicle, and upgrading existing light heads,” said the engineer.
“Therefore, funding will have to be found from another source through the Nenagh offices (of Tipperary County Council) for the new pole.
“The shops are set back about ten metres from the back edge of the existing public footpath, and this is the darkest area, measuring about ten metres by 40 metres in length.
“All of this area is in private ownership, and as such it is not the responsibility of the council to light up this area, as the council is only responsible for lighting up the public roads and footpaths.
“For this particular set-back area to be properly lit, the shop owners would need to install one or two low level six metre-high lighting  columns,” Mr Powell added. 

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