This article is from page 20 of the 2009-08-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
CLARE County Council is pursuing the liquidator of a collapsed County Clare building contractor to com- plete an unfinished pot-holed estate in the Burren village of Corofin.
Last year, Cronan Nagle Construc- tion folded with debts of almost €40 million after falling victim to the collapse in the property market.
George Maloney of a Dublin-based accountancy firm was appointed as liquidator where Cronan Nagle had assets valued at €17.1 million, leav- ing a deficit of about €20 million.
The bulk of the firm’s assets consist of unsold housing stock.
However, the council has issued two separate warning letters to Mr Maloney in connection with the un- finished estate constructed by Cro- nan Nagle, relating to ten homes at Laghtagoona, Corofin.
The council acted after complaints over unfinished footpaths and pot- holes in the Corofin estate.
Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said yes- terday, “House owners have paid through the nose for overpriced homes and developers should not be
able to walk away from their respon- sibilities.
“It is adding further insult to injury to these homeowners and I am glad that the council is pursuing the liq- uidator to have the estate completed. The uncompleted works should be done now.”
The council has stated that the de- velopment has not been carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of the planning permis- sion.
In respect of an application for four luxury homes at Laghtagoona, the council stated that it “has serious concerns regarding the standard of work in this development”.
The council stated that the roads and footpaths are not constructed to the satisfaction of the council; sec- tions of the estate road have deterio- rated, with the result that the potholes are noted on the access roads within the development site.
The council states that the condi- tions of the planning permission be complied with in full, without fur- ther delay.
It has also come to the council’s at- tention that some of the public lights
within the development are not in working order, while no ‘stop’ or ‘yield’ signs have been provided by the developer.
The council stated that in the event the unauthorized development is continued i.e. that the conditions of the planning permission are not complied with, the council may issue an Enforcement Notice.
Any person found guilty of carry- ing out an unauthorized development is liable to fines of up to €1,950 in the district court and €12.6m in the circuit court.
In relation to the firm’s collapse, AIB is owed €22.4 million, while a number of other lenders and the Rev- enue Commissioners are also owed sizeable sums.
The firm was established in 1999 by Clare engineer Cronan Nagle, and built more than 400 sustainable houses in the west of Ireland. It also had significant property interests in Nigeria.