PLANS to construct new social housing in Westbury will force the local authority’s hand to provide essential works there.
That’s the view of local county councillor Cathal Crowe (FF) who has compiled a detailed submission on the needs of local residents for a meeting of Clare County Council on Tuesday, May 14.
“I took the decision to compile the submission on foot of recently announced plans to have 22 social houses built within the estate. I believe that this new development may give leverage to the case, I’ve been making the case to update the estate’s entrance and footpaths for a long time,” Cllr Crowe said.
“My submission prioritises a revised entrance to the estate. Westbury has almost 1,000 houses. It is the largest housing estate in Munster but it has only one entrance into it. You wouldn’t hear of it anywhere else in the country.
“I have brought engineers from the Council out to survey the entrance and am now proposing that one of its piers be set back so that new turning lanes can be constructed. This would provide for much better traffic flows and improved pedestrian safety.”
The estate has more than 7 kilometers of footpaths but several of them are not connected. Several of the bus stops have stand-alone concrete based platforms that are cut off from footpaths and inaccessible to wheelchair users”.
The 22 new social houses will be built by Cooperative Housing Ireland on land once owned by Chieftain Construction. In 2011 Chieftain went into receivership and the land was taken over by NAMA.
