Kilkenny walking track a ‘poor relation’ according to Kilkenny Councillor

Local Independent Councillor, Eugene McGuinness, has called on Kilkenny County Council to do more to maintain the upkeep of the Lacken Walk in Kilkenny City.

Mr. McGuinness believes the area needs more attention, labelling the walking patch a ‘poor relation’ compared to other walkways in the county.

Locals who use the track have reported incidents of anti-social behaviour in recent times and the local councillor wants to see action taken.

"The seating which we have on the Lacken walk has been broken, there’s two or three seats where one of the boards has been viciously smashed so I want them repaired.

Many surveys have been done where anti-social behaviour has been involved and it was discovered that if you repair what was broken relatively quickly, there were less incidents moving forward, unfortunately they’ve been broken for a considerable period of time", Mr. McGuinness said.

McGuinness, first elected to Kilkenny County Council in 2019, also claimed the Council has ‘reneged’ on some of their responsibilities including the trimming of trees in the area.

"The Lacken side is a poor relation, I brought it up 10-20 times to Kilkenny County Council and have asked for a river management committee to be established with all stakeholders", he said.

"Trees on the bank have been allowed to go wild, the council should have managed those trees as it's gone so bad now that you cannot access the river".

The nearby ‘Lacken Well’ is also in need of repairs according to Cllr. McGuiness, with the ‘unloved’ site in need of paint and other minor upgrades.