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Anti-social behaviour in private estates


ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour in private housing estates needs to be punished by taking away rent supplements, according to a local councillor.

At this week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, calls were made for a meeting to take place between the HSE, gardaí, councillors and council officials, with the HSE being urged to monitor tenants “rather than just sending out cheques”.

The matter was raised as councillors discussed the annual report of the local authority’s Estate Management Unit which found that the number of anti-social complaints made in relation to local authority housing has dropped. The positive results for local authority estates was commended by the councillors, who went on to raise concerns about issues of anti-social behaviour in the private sector.

Councillor Guilfoyle told the meeting, “Issues in the private sector are an ongoing problem nationally, it’s more than just in Ennis. We have difficulties with anti-social tenants and it’s very irresponsible of the HSE, where money is given to tenants who are causing difficulty.

“When the Town Council had difficulties with tenants in local authority houses the appointment of an estate manager corrected that. The HSE have to take on board something from that. They can no longer be giving money to anyone causing major difficulties in private estates.”

He went on, “There are people in difficulties paying their mortgages and then there are people living next door who are being subsidised by the health board and are making their lives difficult. They cannot continue supporting people involved in anti-social behaviour. There should be some follow up rather than just just sending out a cheque.”

He was supported by Councillor Paul O’Shea who said that anti-social behaviour in private housing estates is a matter of national concern. He called for a meeting to be held by the Mayor of Ennis with the HSE, Garda Chief Superintendent and councillors. This was seconded by Councillor Guilfoyle.

Councillor Johnny Flynn described the measures put in place by Ennis Town Council for dealing with local authority tenants as “good practice” with lessons to be learned by the private sector. He urged tenants and landlords to work together in a bid to solve the issues.

According to the Estate Management Annual Report for 2012, dealing with local authority housing, there were no drug related anti-social complaints in both 2011 and 2012. The number of non-drug related anti-social complaints dropped from seven to six. Other complaints regarding nuisance and breach of tenancy also went down from 75 in 2011 to 44 in 2012.

Town manager Ger Dollard described the report as “very positive”. He outlined that the focus of the estate management unit is mainly on prevention and early intervention.

Leonard Cleary, town clerk outlined, “The primary focus of the Ennis Town Council Estate management unit is on making our housing estates better places to live in and on building good relationships with communities. A key feture is maintaining a regular presence in all the estates, neighbourhoods and community areas through inspections and house calls. This ensures that problems are reported as they arise allowing for early investigation and intervention.

“The statistics set out for 2012 demonstrate a continued decrease in the number of complaints classed as anti-social. Co-operation with other agencies, particularly the gardaí, continues to develop and the monitoring and retrieval of data from the CCTV scheme has assisted greatly in bringing investigations to a swift conclusion, therefore reducting anti-social behaviour on our estates.”

He added, “The Ennis Town Council Anti-social Behaviour Strategy is very comprehensive and equips the council in dealing with serious cases.

“The majority of cases investigated by the Estate Management Office relate to breaches of tenancy agreements rather than anti-social behaviour like unauthorised parking, noise and refuse storage/disposal. It is our policy to investigate breaches of tenancy agreements promptly and follow-up with advice and warnings where necessary.

“In the majority of cases this brings the issue to a satisfactory conclusion. In cases where warning letters are issued, follow-up calls are made to ensure the conditions of the warnings are complied with.

“Ennis Town Council has a responsibility to ensure that families are compatible and that every effort is made to promote good estate management, that as far as is practicable, the life cycle concepts of individual estates is promotedand maintained and that all aspects of the national housing framework Delivering Houses Sustaining Communities are applied.

“This principle applies in the allocation of tenancies and the council strives to create mixed communities of person so varied ages, family composition and ethnic background. All prospective teannts of the council are required to attend pre-tenancy training and are provided with a copy of our tenant handbook.

“This pre-tenancy training is conducted by the Estate Management Officer and topics include Town Council responsibilities, tenant responsibilities, rent, money management, aid available from the community welfare officer, rights of tenants and environmental issues.”

 

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