This article is from page 21 of the 2011-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
A 22-UNIT affordable housing development in Shannon has encountered “slippage” in terms of its completion, a meeting heard last week.
The scheme development at Cluain Airne got underway in June 2009 and it was initially envisaged that it would be completed within a year. However, the Glaise na Rinne scheme – which consists of 16 affordable and six step-down units – was subsequently halted and the initial contractor’s contract was terminated.
The scheme got underway despite concerns from local residents, who objected to the project. They stated that they did not want the houses built in the area and argued that there was inadequate infrastructure to cope with the new houses.
A new contractor was appointed in July of this year and the council expressed hope at the time that the project would be completed within 16 weeks of its restart.
At a meeting of Shannon Town Council last week, the issue was raised by Sinn Féin Councillor Cathy McCafferty.
In a written response from the council, it was stated that Atlantic Developments took possession of the development on July 18 under contract which provides for completion on December 9. Expenditure to date on the contract is € 2,830,967, excluding design team fees and legal and supervision costs.
“The selling price for the affordable houses will reflect local market values and the standard of the houses,” stated the reply, which added that the houses are to be advertised over the coming weeks. “The contractors are progressing the works satisfactorily on site. There has been some slip- page in the contract completion date resulting from some unforeseen issues on site coupled with a sustained period of wet weather,” stated the response, which added that the delay should be “a matter of weeks”.
Councillors were told that kitchens have been installed in 30 percent of the houses, with half of the tiling complete. Landscaping has been ongoing, while interface works are “now practically complete”.
Cllr McCafferty told the meeting that she was “shocked” to hear recently that more than 10 percent of the population of Shannon is in need of social housing.
“The council does not appear to know what the eventual asking prices of these houses are going to be,” she said.
Councillor Gerry Flynn (Independent) expressed hope that the scheme is “finished, done and dusted, by De- cember 9”.
Independent Councillor Patricia McCarthy asked would the “slippage” amount to a delay of two or three weeks or would it stretch into the New Year.
In response to the councillors’ queries, the town manager Bernadette Kinsella said, “I think there has been a reasonable level of progress since the last meeting.”
“The team is satisfied that works are being completed on the site. . . Obviously we are not going to take possession in Christmas week so we are probably talking about January,” she said.
Ms Kinsella said that councillors would be informed of the overall cost of the project “in due course”.
She said there are 156 people on the list for affordable houses, adding, “Until we go back with prices, we don’t know how many will hold.”