Declan Foley who resides at Drumlin Manor, Bailieborough, pointing out the issues with subsidence in his back garden to Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Paudie Coffey, and Deputy Joe O'Reilly on their visit to the unfinished estate last month. Photos: Alex Coleman

Over 60 of unfinished estates now dealt with

There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of unfinished housing estates in the county, from 147 down to 51 since 2010. Though, senior officials at the County Council warn there are still obstacles to be overcome to reach a satisfactory conclusion with the rest.

Ciaran Fitzpatrick, building control officer informed elected members of the achievement, speaking in response to a motion by Fianna Fáil’s John Paul Feeley at the member’s December monthly meeting.
According to figures from the Department of the Environment in 2011, Cavan had the fourth highest proportion of ghost estates in the country, with 757 vacant units, or 35 empty or unfinished units per 1,000 occupied houses in the county.
That same year Cavan received almost €200,000 from the public safety initiative fund, spent on 19 estates, and in 2012 a further €100,000 to fence off unsecured and hazardous areas, cap pipes, install street lighting and other works.
Most recently, the council received €514,000 to carry out work at six estates: Glen Alainn, Mullagh; Loch Eala, Gowna; Cnoc Alainn, Cootehill; Sli Na Coil, Belturbet; Drumlin Manor, Bailieborough; and Lismeen Hills, Ballyjamesduff.
Mr Fitzpatrick informed the meeting at St Kilian’s Heritage Centre in Mullagh that since 2010, the number of unfinished estates in the county had fallen from 147 to 51 in 2014.
He told the members that the authority and its enforcement section had been successful to date in many cases of accessing bonds and releasing them back to the developers in order to get works completed.
To date €200,000 had been released in development bonds for repairs in eight housing schemes, with a further €400,000 released by liquidators, receivers and investors.
In 2014 alone, Mr Fitzpatrick estimated that almost €1.5m had been spent on 30 developments in the county, but that none of this had been spent on additional public lighting.
This matter of lighting was raised by Kingscourt Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF); while Paddy Smith (FG) and Niamh Smyth (FF) also raised issues in their own areas. Damien Brady (FF) asked what was the situation regarding Council intervention on water pumping stations on estates, some of which he said were “not fit for purpose”
Cllr Brady added that on some estates, where the developer had since disappeared, the power to those stations had been turned off.
He was told, however, that such issues were now the responsibility of Irish Water.
There was anger expressed by some members, Paddy O’Reilly (FG) from Virginia accusing some council staff of “negligence” for failing to see where work was not being carried out. He also where bonds existed on paper only, if the council could take hold of the developer’s property by way of compensation.
Cllr O’Reilly further asked for clarity in relation to defunct management companies in charge of estates and the legal issues that created for homeowners looking to sell their properties, a matter he was told was being looked at by the Department.
But Mr Fitzpatrick outlined the difficulties he and his department faced. “We do try and work with the developers if there are bonds and, in some cases, we’ve taken in the bonds and released back part of it to allow them to complete the work. The problems arise where the developer has gone into liquidation and in some cases we’ve found the receivers to be less than helpful.”
Cathaoirleach Shane P O’Reilly thanked Mr Fitzpatrick and his team for their ongoing work.