More than 100 unfinished estates in the county

There are 126 private housing estates in County Cavan with 13 of those now ready to be taken in charge by the Council on foot of completion of specified works by developers. This was revealed by director of services, Ger Finn, at the March meeting of Cavan County Council. He pointed out that the taking in charge of all of the above estates was a huge financial undertaking for Cavan County Council with the annual electricity cost alone running into several hundred thousand euro, not to mention other charges involved such as those incurred in the completion of roads and other services. Mr. Finn was responding to a proposal tabled by Bailieboro Fine Gael councillor, Sean McKiernan, calling for elected members to be presented with a detailed report on the situation and how the council were endeavouring to deal with it. According to Cllr. McKiernan there was much confusion out there as to who was responsible for unfinished private housing estates. There was a lot of "buck passing" and people who bought homes in good faith who now find that their hopes and dreams are unfulfilled. He was aware that some developers were spinning yarns to residents that they were not responsible when this was not the case. It was Cllr. Shane P. O'Reilly's contention that some of the most roguish developers moved into Co. Cavan in good times, got money off young couples and left without notice, leaving the council "holding the baby". "There are private estates that are an absolute disgrace, with no tarmacadam surfacing and stop cocks that froze up during the recent storm. I am aware of one estate where three of the houses have to supply the other 21 with water. "People paid good money for houses and it is ridiculous that developers can walk away; we should have a comprehensive document as to what work has to be done," stated Cllr. O'Reilly. Remarking that every councillor in the chamber had received representations about unfinished estates, Cllr. Patricia Walsh stated: "Young people have taken out big mortgages to buy their homes and still have no public lighting. Many were without water during the snow and frost." Cllrs. Pauline McCauley and Damien Brady also advocated action being taken to make developers complete unfinished estates, while Des Boylan suggested that the €5.8m owed in development levies, if collected, could finance a substantial amount of this work. "Developers got away with too much; the housing bubble was a disaster and landed the country in serious trouble. There was a lack of control," said Cllr. Boylan. Fergal Curtin suggested that it should be compulsory from now on that private housing estates should have lighting and roads put in first. Describing it as a complex issue, Paddy O'Reilly said that the council should meet with developers to see why estates cannot be completed. Gerry Murray also pointed out that here were many fine developers who brought the county forward in leaps and bounds, he said. "There are some beautiful housing estates and the private housing development at Pullamore is an example of how a housing estate should be completed," he said. Mr. Finn explained that the estimated lighting cost of the 13 estates to be taken over is €32,000 per annum. When one multiplied that by ten, members could see that the additional cost in terms of electricity charges alone would be an estimated €300,000, said Mr. Finn. With regard to the completion of roads and footpaths, Mr. Finn said that the council were working with developers in this regard. Some developers had gone into liquidation and this was posing problems for the council in terms of unfinished work. He said that a detailed report would be ready for May.