Esker Hills

adser53

Just reading another thread about someone moving to Portlaoise and there seems to be a lot of people on here from Esker hills. So how many of yis are there?

I'm living in the estate for just over a year now and I gotta say I love it. Moved down from Dublin with my girlfriend and tbh, I don't think I'd ever go back! (I do for work obviously) :P

Also, just wondering if anyone has heard anything about a residents association or anything like that because once the builders stop maintaining the greens and the like, I'm not filled with confidence that Laois county council are going to swoop in straight away to cut the grass etc and I'd hate the place to get shabby!

And just in case any of you dont know, the other topic I read also said that the creche at the entrance has been bought and could be opening in September which'd be great! No idea how true this is but we live in hope!

Sonic_exyouth

adser53 wrote: »

Just reading another thread about someone moving to Portlaoise and there seems to be a lot of people on here from Esker hills. So how many of yis are there?

I'm living in the estate for just over a year now and I gotta say I love it. Moved down from Dublin with my girlfriend and tbh, I don't think I'd ever go back! (I do for work obviously) :P

Also, just wondering if anyone has heard anything about a residents association or anything like that because once the builders stop maintaining the greens and the like, I'm not filled with confidence that Laois county council are going to swoop in straight away to cut the grass etc and I'd hate the place to get shabby!

And just in case any of you dont know, the other topic I read also said that the creche at the entrance has been bought and could be opening in September which'd be great! No idea how true this is but we live in hope!

*nods*
Eskerer.
2 bedroomed house for me, on me tod I bought it.. get the 8.50 train to Dublin every morn.

Have not heard a word on any resident association though.

did you have any hassle registering to vote?

adser53

Eskerer...I like it.

I actually have'nt registered to vote down here yet

Cos I work in Dublin, the last few times I had to vote I did it in my old town as I passed by on the way to/from work.

It's on my list of things to do!

elainee40

im another one from esker hills.

Here since sept 07 and 6 wks later had baby girl.
My little one is in creche in fairgreen for last year.
Havent heard about it been sold in esker though or about neighbourhood committe.
I get the train back and forward to dublin each day

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

im another one from esker hills.

Here since sept 07 and 6 wks later had baby girl.
My little one is in creche in fairgreen for last year.
Havent heard about it been sold in esker though or about neighbourhood committe.
I get the train back and forward to dublin each day

Do you get the yearly Irish rail ticket?

What train d you get?
The 7.50 seems the most popular, well.. more popular than the 7.40 anyway

elainee40

nope get the weekly ticket and get the 6.50am train to dublin and the 5.25pm one home.

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

nope get the weekly ticket and get the 6.50am train to dublin and the 5.25pm one home.

6.50.. wow.. thats horribly amazingly early!
Fair play to you!

Can I ask, how much is the weekly ticket. my yearly one costs me €50 a week, but it's pre-tax, so it really costs around €37 a week.

elainee40

€76.20 then parking of another 8 euro

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

€76.20 then parking of another 8 euro

YOu can't hear me, but I'm tutting.. its rougly a ten minute walk to the train station.. and you drive! For shame!

€76.20 is steep enough.
Is that a Giant Hop, or train only ticket?

Bicky

Owenass just put up a site notice on the creche. Change of use from creche to offices.
Not great news for parents, but at least the building wont be derelict.

adser53

Just saw that there when I was out walking the dog. I can't imagine many business' setting up now so I'd say they're still gonna have trouble filling it. Hopefully the SPAR still goes ahead!

elainee40

Sonic_exyouth wrote: »

YOu can't hear me, but I'm tutting.. its rougly a ten minute walk to the train station.. and you drive! For shame!

€76.20 is steep enough.
Is that a Giant Hop, or train only ticket?

Yeah i drive as i have to pick up my daughter in the creche at 6.30 requiring a car seat.

The ticket is for both train and bus to Leeson Street

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

Yeah i drive as i have to pick up my daughter in the creche at 6.30 requiring a car seat.

The ticket is for both train and bus to Leeson Street

Ha, well thats fair enough..

The giant hop is only €80.. is that better?

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Fares--Tickets/Tickets/2-Journey-Daily-Weekly/Bus--Rail-Tickets/

its unlimited train bus and dart for the full 7 days..

I was thinking about getting it mysmelf.

elainee40

Whats the difference between short, medium and long hop???

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

Whats the difference between short, medium and long hop???

The distance from Dublin.

Portlaoise is the limit, from Dublin, of the Giant Hop.

It allows you to use the bus eireann bus, the irish rail train, the dart and the dublin bus services between portlaoise and dublin

elainee40

hmmm interesting, they dont advertise it very much do they, where you get it??

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

hmmm interesting, they dont advertise it very much do they, where you get it??

Well, you need one of those CIE ID cards first.

Then, the giant hop can be bought from Dublin bus on O'Connell street, Irish rail in Heuston, Connolly or that shop they have that i think is on Abbey street. Probably from busaras too.

You used to be bale to buy them on ticketmaster, but its changed now.. you might want to call irish rail tomorrow when you get a chance for full details.

adser53

Just got a letter in the post today; Owenass have "officially" finished in the estate and their holding a meeting in the new pub up in Fairgreen (the Mile Bush) at 8pm on Tuesday the 19th of May to discuss any concerns the residents have about security, maintenance etc and to offer assistance in setting up a residents association.

elainee40

Are then not suppose to maintain the estate for 5 years or have they been there 5 years?

Bicky

They are obligied to maintain the estate until they finish constructrion work here. I think that could be the reason they are sold the creche and shop, probably at a lower price than they had wanted.
I think they have done a good maintenance job so far. They are cutting the grass right now. A residents association is very impoortant or the estate will go to **** once they leave. I will be at the meeting for sure. Anyone else coming?

Sonic_exyouth

Bicky wrote: »

They are obligied to maintain the estate until they finish constructrion work here. I think that could be the reason they are sold the creche and shop, probably at a lower price than they had wanted.
I think they have done a good maintenance job so far. They are cutting the grass right now. A residents association is very impoortant or the estate will go to **** once they leave. I will be at the meeting for sure. Anyone else coming?

I will...

Where is this pub though ?
I don't even know where fairgreen is.

Bicky

Fairgreen is the previous estate built by Owenass. The houses are very similar to esker hills. It is on the mountmellick/tullamore road. They have a Eurospar and a pub(the mile bush)

adser53

I plan on being there myself. Have an exam the next morning so may have to do some last minute study. If I'm not there though, my misssus defo will be! I'd hate to see the esate going to sh*t. We're out every week sweeping the road and tidying up the place, cutting the grass outside when the builders didn't etc. IMO there are a few spots in the estate where the houses are clearly rented and the roads outside them are filthy

elainee40

i agree you know whats rented or not but also i know the road of houses that are from council thats could do with a good sweep up and clean up

elainee40

So Who's going to the meeting tonight??

And what questions you going to ask?

Bicky

The meeting is next tue night(19th). I guess the discussion will be about the residents association and upkeep of the green areas.
I plan on asking about the shop anyway.

elainee40

yeah saw that, re-read the letter when i went home lol.

I want to ask about the parking on the front street as its kinda a hazzard also dangerous for kids

adser53

HERE HERE about the parking! It pisses me off that some people are too lazy to park in their spaces at the back of their houses and then walk around to the front door. the main road, laurel drive, is a disaster for this and I myself nearly hit a small kid that just walked out from behind a parked car the other day.

I'll be asking about that, the shop & creche, green upkeep, a number of street lights either not working or flickering on and off and the possibility of Laois co-co putting in a litter bin or two at least near the estate! I'd also like them to put a gate or something at the shop to stop people parking their cars there with "for sale" signs in the windows. at least til the shop is sold

Is it just me or are there no litter bins in Portlaoise?

Man I'm starting to sound like Victor Meldrew and I'm only 24 :rolleyes:

aliqueenb

what would be the price for a 5/7 day each day return for a student from portlaoise to dublin...

Sonic_exyouth

aliqueenb wrote: »

what would be the price for a 5/7 day each day return for a student from portlaoise to dublin...

I've no idea!

You're best callin Irish Rail - I presume you have a student travel card?

From September there is the option of getting the annual ticket.

elainee40

aliqueenb wrote: »

what would be the price for a 5/7 day each day return for a student from portlaoise to dublin...

It be probably cheaper renting a private helicopter

***pitbull***

also all the cameras have been broken and actual discon by the vermin that hang round all the time at the enterance

adser53

Well, just back from the meeting and tbh I felt it went very well.

I know the subject of anti social behaviour came up a lot but lets be fair, there is only so much the builders can do about this and I think they were very understanding and willing to help. They also didn't have to bother turning up in the first place! It must be horrible for the residents dealing with scum like that on a daily basis though! Let's hope now that we seen the level of support throughout the estate that we can get rid of these knackers and get the place cleaned up where they've wrecked it

elainee40

I didnt actually think there was that bad of anti social behaviour until last nights meeting, Granted im not at that part of the front of the estate but i am around the corner from the council houses at the front and there does be disturbances there.

Wonder if he'll stick to the letters re parking etc

Sonic_exyouth

ok.. missed the meeting.. what was said?

elainee40

An awful lot of talk was about Anti Social behaviour in the estate, around the shop and the creche, builders putting concrete bolders up at the shop by next wed's to stop the cars going up for sale etc.

Builders are going to send a letter around to all houses about parking re laurel drive.

They wont be putting bins in the estate. emmmmmmm

Let me think

Sonic_exyouth

elainee40 wrote: »

An awful lot of talk was about Anti Social behaviour in the estate, around the shop and the creche, builders putting concrete bolders up at the shop by next wed's to stop the cars going up for sale etc.

Builders are going to send a letter around to all houses about parking re laurel drive.

They wont be putting bins in the estate. emmmmmmm

Let me think

Was what has been said accurate so..

Shop is deffo to become a Spar?
Creche has been sold and is to become offices?

elainee40

Re the shop it was brought up if there was an off license to go into and he said that its up to who ever buys it over.

Builder said he has 3 purpose built creches in the estate, the big one that is boarded up and another 2 the sizes of normal houses.
At the moment they cant get anyone to buy the big creche so they are looking at maybe business.

adser53

I never realised that ASB was such a big issue either. We're right down the end of Laurel drive and, thank god, we never have any trouble!

Like Elaine said, the builders are going to send out a letter about the on street parking, they're trying to get the shops and creches filled and hope to have it sorted in 4 months or so. In the meantime they're going to put concrete bollards across the car park at the shop to stop people flogging cars. They also said that if needs be, they'll be putting alarms and cameras to both areas.

They won't be putting in bins and they doubt the council will unless we petition them for some. Before the handover to the council they're going to make sure all street lights, services etc are in full working order.

For the houses affected by kids crossing the railway tracks and climbing over their back walls, they said they'd talk to Iarnrod Eireann to see if they can sort it out as the back walls are higher than the building regs anyway. They also said they would try to contact the landlords for any houses that have problematic tenants and that they might issue a letter to local letting agents to try vet the tenants more. The metal gates at the top of....(can't remember the road name) are going to be locked from now on and they may put timber cladding on front of them to make it look better. They also said that it's the farmer's repsonsibility (a condidtion of the planning I think)to clean the road after himself if he goes in and out of that gate so I'm sure they'll provide his contact details to the RA.

Ehhmmmmm what else....

They're assisting us in setting up a Residents association and last night a secretary, chairman and treasurer were elected and Owenass will be contacting these to give them as much help as possible. They also elected a rep for "Anti-Social behavior" to liaise with the gardaí because it seems there are numerous complaints and each case is treated seperatly by different gardaí so in future, a more concentrated effort will be done dealing directly with the garda liason officer. A petition may also be circulated about this.

There were a few complaints about the traffic calming measures too. The middle-of-the-road bollards on the narrow bends like Blueberry hill, in particular and the lack of road signs. Essentially we were told that the place was audited by a traffic control firm and it meets their requirements so there will be no more signs, ramps being erected or removed. He said something about a roundabout somewhere too I believe but I might've misheard that.

All in all, I was really impressed with the turnout last night and it seems that 90% of the estate are owner occupiers that care a great deal about the estate, it's appearance and it's upkeep. In the next few months, the R.A will hopefully be up and running, the ASB will be stopped and we can get on with looking after our homes!

Sorry about the long post. If I've forgotten anything, please add it in!:D

Sorry forgot to mention, it seemed last night that the prospect of a SPAR (or similar) going in could be a possibility. They didn't confirm or deny anything but they did say a convenience store is the likely prospect. Someone then piped up about not wanting an off-licence and they said very little about that. I'm presuming because most SPAR's and the like do sell wine and a small selection of cans & spirits so they couldn't say there WASN'T going to be an offo and that it'd be up to the management of the store to ensure they sold drink responsibly. I'm guessing the chap that piped meant he didn't want a dedicated off licence like Egan's up the town or browns around the corner, rather than a shop that sold drink in addition to everything else!

As for the creche, they are'nt sold but they're looking at the prospect of selling two small creches and using the big one as office space due to the current economy making it very difficult to sell. TBH I can't see anyone setting up an office there except maybe a doctor or something like that. Who knows though. The sooner it's filled, the better

***pitbull***

just wondering did anything come up about all the cameras being smashed last week tbh i seen wat i think was a junkie up 2 no good behind the back of the shops he kept looking out 2 c no 1 was coming.. will they ever shut the main gates 2 that u need a zapper 2 get in because any1 can walk in after all its also makes me sick 2 think i bought my house and then some of the people in the counsil houses do give a **** about the place

elainee40

No they wont put gates up on the main enterence due to Fire and safety reasons. eg fire and ambulace service cant get in

***pitbull***

ok.. but think something really needs to be done after all

adser53

Yeah it's a pity that we couldnt get gates like an apartment complex, would've been great but to be fair, there's far too many houses and cars coming and going, not to mention visitors for it to ever work properly really. Plus, as elaine said, the fire service would never have it.

I must really be living in a bubble cos apart from the gang of romanian (?) kids that used to hang around, I havn't seen anything bad in the estate....especially no junkies shooting up behind the shops :mad: or people being followed home!!!

elainee40

all i can say is im glad i dont live at the front of the estate

adser53

elainee40 wrote:

all i can say is im glad i dont live at the front of the estate

Me too! I hope something can be done about it tho, it must be awful for the people affected by it

elainee40

:rolleyes: i wonder if they will have the concret bollards up by tomorrow as promised

Sonic_exyouth

But that car is still just sitting there!

adser53

I put signs up on both cars (blue Kia and a red megan I think) on Friday night around 6pm as I walked the dogs passed. I asked them politely to move the cars as the builders would be blocking it off today (I know it's tomorrow but didn't want to take a chance) When I got back an hour later, the sign on the blue kia was gone (cheeky git) so I put ANOTHER one on the windscreen. Both cars were moved then Saturday lunchtime. If they park again, I'll be ringing them and it won't be to put an offer on their poxy cars!!! I see a truck is parked in it tonight though! Wait and see, some sap will park there tomorrow and leave for the day and the builders won't be able to put up the bollards. i suppose they/we should've put up a sign saying it's gonna be blocked off tomorrow.

:mad::mad::mad:

adser53

Just in case anyone is interested- there's provisional arrangements made for a residents association meeting at 8pm on Wednesday the 16th of June in O' Loughlins Hotel on the main street. A letter will be circulated around the estate to confirm this sometime over the coming week

Sonic_exyouth

adser53 wrote: »

Just in case anyone is interested- there's provisional arrangements made for a residents association meeting at 8pm on Wednesday the 16th of June in O' Loughlins Hotel on the main street. A letter will be circulated around the estate to confirm this sometime over the coming week

So, where is that?

adser53

Sonic_exyouth wrote: »

So, where is that?

It's right smack bang in the middle of the main street a few doors back up from Egan's Pub or Shaw's Dept store.. It has like a canopy/pillar type thing outside it. Club 23 is at the back of it too.

Also, I got my dates wrong, it's wednesday the 17th, not 16th as I posted above.