LIMERICK West Sinn Féin councillor Malachy McCreesh has called on Limerick City and County Council to take a more urgent approach to the refurbishment of vacant units at Bourke Avenue on Lord Edward Street.
During a debate on the need to fast-track the building of more social and affordable houses, he said that three years was an unacceptable time-frame to refurbish existing houses.
“In July 2016, Council management reported that the Department of Housing had approved funding for the refurbishment of 12 housing units in the three-story block and the project was proceeding to design procurement stage.
“However, in a recent briefing to City West councillors it was stated that although the design stage was complete, changes to provide extensions to five of the ground floor units necessitated Part 8 Planning approval. This will further delay the start of construction work and the projected delivery date is expected to be in 2019,” Cllr McCreesh claimed.
He also maintained that the extreme scarcity of housing units in Limerick City highlighted the importance of making these units tenant ready in a much shorter timeframe.
“When this good news story was announced in 2016, I asked that the refurbishment should proceed from design stage to construction work in a fast tracked manner.
“The housing crisis in Limerick City and County has worsened in the last year,” he concluded.
