Electricity works will see town future ready for developments

By the end of next year New Ross will have an electricity supply the envy of other towns its size throughout the south east.

Speaking at the municipal council meeting, Jimmy Purcell from the ESB said along with the new sub station which will be built at Knockmullen, works on the Rosbercon line are progressing, meaning the entire town of New Ross will have capacity for new estates and companies by late 2021

Mr Purcell said: ‘ The New Ross area is on two 38KV lines; one is from Waterford to Rosbercon and into the New Ross station. Great Island and Bayleystown into New Ross [is another] and the Waterford Rosbercon line was refurbished in 2018 and 2019. We were in the process of doing that line but had to stop due to the pandemic. It’s 70 per cent completed.’

The final works will see the line from Rosbercon into New Ross finished. Mr Purcell said ESB has been in consultation with residents in Rosbercon, including one who has a tower in their garden. ‘ They are satisfied that one of these towers is coming out of it. When that is completed and when there is a new station in Knockmullen, it will basically mean that every line coming into New Ross will have been overhauled to the most modern standards.’

Following completion of the Knockmullen power station there will be plenty of capacity for new commercial and residential developments. Cllr Anthony Connick asked if there will be any disruption to traffic arising from the works and sought a time-frame.

Mr Purcell said the project has already begun. ‘We hope to have it fully completed by the end of July. Roads will be closed for a few weeks but it’s unavoidable. The Creywell road in particular as crane works need to happen there. When the towers were originally put up there were no houses there.

‘ To minimise disruption rather than wait until Actavo (laying fibre for Aurora Telecom), we will be working in tandem with that so both of these works will be ongoing at the same time. We have road closures there so we need to get it done as quickly as possible. For certain times a stop/go system will be in place.’

Cllr Michael Sheehan urged Mr Purcell to ensure residents living on or near the Creywell Road are alerted as to when the works are taking place. Mr Purcell said most towns the size of New Ross would not have the electricity supply strength or the same capacity. ‘It allows for industrial and residential developments. It will be a significant improvement on what is there at the moment.’