Street Lighting In Arklow And Across South Wicklow Continues To Cause Concerns

Local TD slams public lighting situation in Arklow and South Wicklow

There's been a further call for immediate action to restore and improve street lighting across Arklow and villages and towns across South Wicklow.

Local representatives say with the nights beginning to close in as Autumn approaches, it is essential improvements are undertaken to improve street lighting.

Some also say the issue will only intensify local fears about the prevalence of anti-social behaviour and vandalism in Arklow and beyond.

Local Wicklow-Wexford TD Brian Brennan has called for intervention on the matter:

“Since opening my office in Arklow in late 2024, I have been inundated by a constant stream of reports of issues with street lighting across South Wicklow.  It is unacceptable that this level of outage appears to be “the norm” in this area.

“In Arklow town itself, the main street is largely in darkness and this continues out to the many roads and estates across the town.  I have had people reporting outages in Pound Hill, Ferrybank, Castle Park Car Park, Old Chapel Ground, Templerainy to name but a few.

“The lack of appropriate street lighting will only cause to increase fears of Arklow residents in the darker evenings, especially in light of recent high profile incidents of serious anti-social behaviour in the town.''

The local representative says a lack of lightning cannot be allowed to persist and to hamper future positive plans for the town:

“Arklow is a town on the verge of renewal. The long-awaited wastewater treatment plant is providing the opportunity for growth and development but this cannot happen if the town is swathed in darkness.

He says its far from limited to the larger urban area of Arklow:

“I have had constituents from Aughrim, Tinahely, Rathdrum in touch, again outlining gaps, outages and serious deficiencies in street lighting in their area. South Wicklow is home to many vibrant, active communities who should not have their activities or lifestyles restricted due to a lack of public lighting.

 “I intend to raise this issue directly with Wicklow County Council Chief Executive, Emer O’Gorman when I meet with her in the coming days as this issue requires direct, immediate action before winter sets in completely.  The people of South Wicklow deserve the safety and security that is afforded by appropriate levels of lighting in their towns and villages.''