Eight south Dublin councillors vote against new ESB substation in protest at ‘delays’ in fixing street lights
Eight south Dublin councillors voted against a new ESB substation in the county to send a “message” to the energy provider after they said the maintenance of traffic and street lights in their areas were allegedly delayed for over a year.
South Dublin County Council (SDCC) introduced a report at a meeting this month to facilitate power supply to Grange Castle West Business Park where the ESB have made an application to acquire a five square metre plot for a substation.
Fine Gael councillor for Firhouse-Bohernabreena Brian Lawlor asked the management to reach an agreement with the ESB before the proposal was allowed to move forward.
“I can’t support this one today I’m not against the ESB or the development at Grange Castle – us councillors on the ground know that we don’t get proper service to the level agreed to by the ESB,” he said.
“There were 26 traffic lights put up out there and it took some of them 18 months to turn them on. I see that our streetlights are not being dealt with adequately enough – I’d like to send a soft message to the ESB to say we need a change.
“I call for management to come back with a service level agreement - to say that if a traffic light or street light is put up, that it will be turned on within 8 weeks. We refuse to support anything to do with the ESB until we see this support.”
Director of Economic Development for SDCC Jason Frehill said that the substation could be a significant development in south Dublin.
“Large scale buildings are being developed in the area and it could lead to many jobs – up to 1000 now,” he explained.
"To power these developments, will need more substations – this is the first of many. The management are supportive of it, it is needed to meet our targets.”
Fine Gael councillor for Lucan, Caroline Brady, also voted against the proposal.
“We’re in a shocking situation If we have to send messages to the ESB – I could give you a list of the lighting I’ve tired to have put in place over the last year and they failed on every occasion,” said Cllr Brady.
“When we’re spending all this money on infrastructure, why are we not able to get from them a timeline to see when it will be completed.”
Fianna Fáil councillor for Firhouse-Bohernabreena Cllr Emma Murphy said she was not in favour of delaying the project.
“Can’t we be proactive, not reactive and ask for management to get in touch with ESB Networks (ESBN) who are responsible for us having our traffic lights, and get them in front of us?” she asked.
The motion for the substation was passed at the end of the discussion with 25 councillors voting in favour of it and eight councillors voting against the project.
"For the majority of public lighting faults, ESB Networks crew involvement is not necessary for repair work to proceed,” said a spokesperson from the ESB.
"Where our attendance is requested, the ESBN prioritises public safety and ensures crews are made available accordingly.
“However, the broader maintenance and repair of public lighting remains the responsibility of the local authority and their appointed contractors.”