Kildare still has 19,000 houses in Estates not in charge

The Compliance section of Kildare County Council,  who deal with taking estates in charge,  have warned that progress in the coming years may  be slower than they would otherwise like,   the reason being the Council may have to call in bonds of developers who have ceased trading in order to complete outstanding works in those estates.    According to Cllr Catherine Murphy  despite the fact that 53 estates (with  almost 5000 houses between them)   have been taken in charge since 2006 there are still in excess of 19,000 houses in housing estates that are completed or still under construction that the compliance section are still dealing with.

When Cllr Murphy revealed an identical figure in January 2006 (at that time she was a
Dail Deputy)  the issue  received considerable National coverage.   Following this
Kildare County Council embarked on a programme of work which involved taking the older estates in charge,   some had been built for decades.  While considerable work has been done it is clear  a considerable workload remains.

Once an estate is taken in charge it is signals that the Council are satisfied all works are completed satisfactorily,   normally the last two remaining jobs tackled by a developer is the lay the top layer of tarmac to the roads and complete the landscaping.   The developer is also obliged to submit a CCTV survey of the drains and transfer open space land to the Council in order that it is protected from further housing development.    A high priority has been to take estates in charge  where there is a management company.   In the context of taking such estates  in charge they will insist the management company is wound down,   except in the case of multi unit developments such as apartments who will require management of common areas.

When the report was being presented to Councillors they were also told that the  work of the compliance section could be made much easier if there was full co-operation with the process by developers.    Some estates according to Cllr Murphy simply require the final paperwork there is really no excuse for foot dragging which appears to be in no one’s interest.

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Posted by catherinemurphy on May 4, 2009. Filed under Your Home & You. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.