‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ for long-running issue in Leitrim estate

A councillor has described there being “light at the end of the tunnel” following a longstanding issue with a housing estate in Rooskey.

At September’s meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Seán McGowan asked Leitrim County Council to take the Lock estate in Rooskey in charge and to engage with Uisce Éireann to take the water services elements in charge as soon as possible.

Inquiries had previously been made by Cllr McGowan about the taking in charge status of The Lock estate, including in January 2025, when he raised the issue of a lack of lighting.

At that meeting, it was said that a public consultation to take the estate in charge would take place in late Summer 2025. It is now hoped that this will take place at the end of this year.

Now, in September of this year, it was confirmed that the estate is included in the next tranche of estates that the Council will be moving to take in charge.

Regarding Uisce Éireann, the Council is currently engaging with them in relation to taking the water services in the estate in charge.

The sewerage system in the Lock has already been taken in charge by the Council, which Cllr McGowan said was an issue that was causing confusion among residents. “There was a bit of confusion about that. It was never properly acknowledged that it was taken in charge,” he said.

A report from the Planning department confirmed that the houses were originally served by individual septic tanks. However, they were connected to a new sewer that was installed in the field to the rear of the houses as part of the Leitrim Town and Villages Sewerage Scheme.

The only service that remains to be taken in charge by Uisce Éireann is the potable water supply.

The Council hopes to finish liaising with Uisce Éireann on the estate “in the near future” and that the Council can move to the public consultation phase of the taking in charge process before the end of the current year, with the taking in charge process completed before the end of the year or early next year.

Cllr McGowan welcomed the response from the Planning department, saying he has “been on about this for the last number of years.”

“I think there could be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. He added that the Council needs to “keep the finger on the pulse and get it over the line after so many years.”