Building to begin this year on east Clare social housing estate

CONSTRUCTION on a new social housing development in an east Clare town is due to start before the end of the year, a Senior Engineer has confirmed. 

Plans for 18 homes on a site at the Feakle Road in Ballyminoge, Scariff, were lodged by Clare County Council in November 2021. Last July, the authority was granted just over €6.09 million for the development, which is to be named ‘Droichead Nua’. 

Last week’s meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District heard an update on the scheme, following a question from Councillor Joe Cooney. The Fine Gael member welcomed a progress report from Senior Executive Engineer in Housing, Niamh Madden. He noted that there are 140 people on the housing waiting list in the area, and expressed the hope some might be looked after with the new development. 

Ms Madden’s response outlined that funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) had been granted “with an all-in budget of €6,093,289 (incl. VAT)”. The reply stated that tenders had been invited and that, “It is anticipated, subject to a tender being approved by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the timeframe associated with same, the construction will commence on this project prior to the end of 2022”. 

On foot of queries at the meeting, Director of Service Anne Haugh confirmed that the tender closing date was September 16 and that these bids are already being assessed. “Generally once tenders are in, there’s no delay,” she told the meeting. “It will move. Once it goes to the Department, generally speaking, things turning around pretty quickly.”

Ms Haugh noted the context of rising construction costs and said: “We expect that there may be issues in relation to cost. That will determine the speed of final approval. but there is an intention to move given the housing crisis. We would not expect any extraordinary delay.”

Councillor Cooney thanked Ms Madden and Ms Haugh for their replies. “It’s great to see that the Council got Stage 3 backing for the new housing in Scariff, he said. “It’s good to see it’s gone to tender. We were told, at a briefing, that there are 140 on local housing list and that people are looking for two-bed houses. Maybe timing is good. I would be hoping that people will be looked after and would hope to see the contractor on site before end of 2022.”

Councillor Pat Burke backed Councillor Cooney’s remarks. “This progress is very welcome,” he said. “This development has a number of two-bedroom homes and that is what the demand is for.”

The rising costs of the scheme was noted by Councillor Pat Hayes. “It shows where we are gone with inflation,” he said. “We were talking €5m, now we’re talking €6m. The €250,000 per unit cost for a two-bed home is an exorbitant cost. The contract price might even come in a good bit more. That causes a shiver in terms of how local authorities will deliver apartments, not even houses.

This highlights a national issue as much as a local issue. It gives rise to concern over the future of social housing.”

The development will be made up of 14 apartments, 12 of which will have two bedrooms. It will also include two semi-detached, two-storey, three-bedroom houses, with adaptations.

The decision to approve the housing plan was made at the February meeting of Clare County Council. At that time, Councillor Johnny Flynn raised concerns about a potential flood risk and the impact on the nearby Scariff River. Councillors Cooney, Pat Hayes and Tony O’Brien told that meeting that flooding and other concerns had been addressed. 

During the public consultation phase, there were two submissions, both of which raised concerns about possible environmental damage in the area around the site. 

The planning application was lodged last November, but proposals for the development were first unveiled two years ago. It had originally been hoped that construction might begin in the middle of 2020, and that the development would have been completed this year.