This article is from page 4 of the 2008-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
through the Free- dom of Information Act, the council anticipated that in 2006 and 2007 it would have 56 Traveller families in group housing. However, the actual accommoda- tion provided by the council in that category came to just 22 families.
But with work expected to start on three group housing schemes before the end of the year in Ennistymon (2) and Ennis (1), the council is hopeful of securing 73 of the 119 target for 2008 by the end of the year.
The figure of 73 does not include 18 Traveller-specific houses which will be under construction by next December.
A spokesman for the council’s Trav- eller Accommodation Unit said they would provide 18 new houses in the three schemes in Ennis and Ennisty- mon and planning was advanced in
relation to all three projects.
The annual targets for group hous- ing were altered due to new require- ments for Travellers and the fact that group schemes proposed for Shan- non and Liscannor did not proceed because of those changed needs.
“The overall programme is, by and large, a success with a 75 per cent rate of success and, by early 2009, the vast majority of Travellers should be in permanent accommodation.
“It continues to be a challenge to meet the needs of Travellers where more and more are settling down
rather than travelling around.”
Chairman of the council’s Spe- cial Policy Committee, Cllr Joe Ar- kins (FG) said, “There have been a number of difficulties with the pro- gramme in terms of sites and plan- ning but, all in all, I believe we have done well.
“Maybe we haven’t done as much as we should have, but we have done as much as we could.”
Cllr Arkins regretted the high spend on the legal costs relating to the pro- gramme as the money would be far better spent on bricks and mortar.