Call for balanced housing development

The need for balanced housing provision across the entirety of County Monaghan was emphasised by elected members of Monaghan County Council at the local authority’s January meeting.

While the housing element of the Council’s Capital Programme for 2026-2028, which was presented at the meeting, was broadly welcomed, the Cathaoirleach, Cllr P.J. O’Hanlon (FF), voiced concern that his own town of Carrickmacross appeared to be allocated only €5M over the course of the programme for housing projects; while Monaghan Town was set to see housing development worth in excess of €100 million.

Councillors representing the Ballybay-Clones Municipal District were disappointed in the comparative lack of housing activity planned for the two towns in their remit.

Calling for a meeting of the Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on Housing to be convened as soon as possible, the Cathaoirleach said he wanted to know why it was planned to spend €128M on housing provision in Monaghan Town and only €5M on housing in Carrickmacross. To him this didn’t add up, and it challenged the notion of balanced development when Carrickmacross was the largest growing town in the county.

Director of Housing Services Olga McConnon said the actual total spend for Carrickmacross was €20M and this represented what is currently in the pipeline. She hoped they would see much more housing delivery in the town over the course of the capital programme.

When Cllr Alan Johnston (FG) pointed out that the figure for Monaghan represented expenditure across the entire Monaghan Municipal District and not just the county town, the cathaoirleach asked him if he was suggesting that Carrickmacross didn’t have the same housing problem as other towns. Cllr O’Hanlon reckoned that, even if the expenditure in rural areas of north Monaghan was subtracted from the figure, at least €100M was still going into Monaghan Town.

Chief Executive Robert Burns said there was a sincere and genuine commitment on his part to balanced development. Some of the detail, he said, had still to be worked out but, over time, they are aiming for balanced development. Mr Burns accepted that this three-year snapshot might not present a balanced picture.

“We are listening intently to the feedback from the members,” the Chief Executive added.

Cllr Sinéad Flynn (SF), who chairs the Ballybay-Clones Municipal District, said it was evident that the level of housing planned for the area she represented was significantly lower than the county’s other two Municipal Districts. When the programme is viewed in its wider context, she felt it was clear Ballybay-Clones continued to lag behind. Its towns and villages need additional housing but also a consistent and sustained level of wider investment.

Ms McConnon countered that Ballybay-Clones currently represents 10% of the county’s housing need but is being allocated 21% of the total housing expenditure. However, the council would review the options in this Municipal District area and the head of housing said she hoped there would be more housing opportunities there in the future.

Cllr Flynn said if they had additional housing in the Municipal District more people would want to stay there. They had many people who wanted to remain in Clones and Ballybay but who currently had no option but to move to Castleblayney or Monaghan Town because of the lack of housing activity in the MD.

The Chief Executive said the housing market in Ballybay-Clones is currently not functioning. There is a delay or lag in that part of the county but he felt there were “green shoots” in the number of planning applications coming in from the area in recent times.

Mr Burns also pointed out that the local authority has plans to deliver housing in villages in the Municipal District such as Smithboro, Scotshouse and Doohamlet.

'Poor cousin'

Cllr Sean Gilliland (FG) said Ballybay-Clones MD had the largest area of roads in the county and the towns where dereliction was most evident. He called for measures to be taken to halt population decline in Ballybay, which he branded the “poor cousin” of the county’s towns.

He said that some ratepayers in Clones-Ballybay might be contributing more to the council coffers than many others in Carrickmacross or Monaghan Town but currently are “not getting a fair bang for their buck”.

Cllr Pat Treanor (SF) said Ballybay-Clones made up the largest geographical area of Co Monaghan and had the most roads, but it also had the lowest population. He didn’t think it was fair to make comparisons in terms of need with the other Municipal Districts.

“Balanced development means taking specific actions in the weaker parts of the county,” stated Cllr Treanor. He said there was always a greater return from investment when it was made in areas where genuine need existed.