Council criticised for messy Tradaree

A FAILURE to carry out tidying work at the Tradaree Court flats led to criticism of Clare County Council, at this week’s meeting of Shannon Town Council.

Councillors have been very critical of the state in which the flats have been left, with claims of illegal dumping in the area.
At the meeting, Councillor Patricia McCarthy put forward a motion asking why “remedial works associated with removing shrubbery, rubbish, and so on, at Tradaree Court Flats has not been undertaken as promised”.
In a written reply, Siobhán McNulty of Clare County Council claimed that work is still being done to progress the demolition of the flats, while rubbish has been taken from the site.
“The council has prioritised the demolition of the Tradaree Court Flats in its Social Housing Investment Programme 2010 as submitted to the department. This work is subject to a Part VIII planning process and to the necessary funding being provided by the department. In anticipation of funding being made available, documentation is currently being prepared in order to advertise the contract for the demolition of the flats. It is planned that the necessary notice will be placed in the coming weeks on eTenders.
“The council did remove rubbish from this site in January and since then have not received any reports of significant dumping in the vicinity of the flats. As there are no specific resources available to respond to such incidents of illegal dumping and littering, any assistance that the public can provide in identifying the perpetrators is welcome,” Ms McNulty said.
However, Councillor McCarthy said that dumping is still going on at the site and that vegetation had been allowed to grow, which enabled people to continue dumping.
Councillor Gerry Flynn backed the motion and said that some of the things needed hadn’t happened. “It is an eyesore and things have been promised and not delivered.”
He said that there have been vermin in the area and people have also caused problems. “Some of the vermin have less than four legs,” he commented.
Councillor Cathy McCafferty said that the claim that there hadn’t been any complaints since rubbish was removed in January was incorrect, as she had made a complaint herself in the intervening period.
Labour Councillor Tony McMahon said that the demolition of the flats was taking much longer than had been forecast. “We all expected it would happen in a reasonable time scale. But time passes and nothing happens. I would have thought it would be long gone into history by now.”
Councillor Michael Fleming said that when work does begin, efforts should be made to ensure that local people are employed.
Town manager Bernadette Kinsella said that the council were about to begin seeking tenders but after the council’s end was done, it was a matter of getting funding from the department.
Summing up, Councillor McCarthy said that just because the flats were to be demolished, they didn’t have to be let go completely until then.
“We want them to be at least some bit respectable,” she said.