Construction compound labelled a ‘bombsite’

A construction compound in the Westbury housing estate has been described as “a bombsite” that is “seen as a playground” amid calls to remove it.

The comments were made at a recent Killaloe Electoral Area Meeting where Councillor Cathal Crowe urged the council “in the interest of public health and safety” to take appropriate action to have the Chieftain Construction-owned construction compound fully removed.
Councillor Crowe proposed that the area be appropriately landscaped and that palisade fencing be erected to secure the above-ground sewage infrastructure.
The Meelick councillor told members that this construction compound was among the “litany of problems” in the Westbury housing estate.
“This needs to be discussed from a health and safety point of view. Chieftain continues to maintain a construction compound here the size of a football pitch. Youths are getting in there. I observed last November quad bikes that got in there and were doing stunts. It looks like a bombsite but it is seen as a playground. Every house facing into it is sold or occupied and they’re looking out onto this bombsite. When the council start to pick things off the snag list, the removal of this needs to be paramount,” he said.
Councillor Crowe explained that young people were gaining entry to the compound through gaps in the fencing. He stressed that on “health and safety grounds the council need to step in here”.
In a formal reply to the motion, senior executive officer in the planning, land use and transportation section of Clare County Council, John Bradley, said, “The council is currently in communication with the liquidators in respect of the Chieftain Construction projects. The department is preparing a detailed list of issues to be dealt with by the liquidator in respect of the enforcement issues for all the Chieftain estates, which will include all public health and safety issues arising from this stalled development. The construction company has approval from the council for the siting of the compound in its present location, however, health and safety issues will be addressed.”
He added that in respect of the decommissioning of the wastewater treatment plant. “This matter is at present to be referred to the executor of the McInerney Construction Ltd Company, who is the responsible party for the decommissioning of this plant.
“The department is currently seeking to prioritise and put site resolution plans for incomplete housing estates throughout the county. The council is currently working through a number of issues, including legal issues, in progressing outstanding matters in Westbury,” Mr Bradley concluded.