LIMERICK City and County Council has been accused of “not trying hard enough” when it comes to dealing with dereliction in the county.
The issue arose at this month’s meeting of the Adare-Rathkeale Municipal District when Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey proposed that the local authority apply a compulsory purchase order to a vacant housing estate on the Ballywilliam Road in Rathkeale.
He said that families on the social housing list would be “grateful” for one of these 30 houses on the outskirts of the town.
Party colleague Cllr Stephen Keary claimed that the Council was “not trying hard enough”.
“We are dragging our feet in making these houses available. There is a dire need for social housing,” he said.
He asked the council executive to track down the 30 owners of the houses in the Ballywilliam site. He said that for a fee of €150 per house it would be possible to get the relevant details from the Land Registry.
“It was a mess from the start. There is no sewerage and no water there.”
Fianna Fail councillor Kevin Sheahan asked for the list of the property owners off the Land Registry website be made available at next month’s meeting.
Director of Service for Social Development Gordon Daly confirmed that the Ballywilliam estate is one of the sites that the Council are currently seeking to resolve in the district using the provisions available to it.
“I will provide a further update in the near future,” he added.
