Twenty-three Clare estates to be exempt from household charge

TWENTY-three housing developments in Clare are to be exempt from the household charge, according to a list published on the Department of the Environment’s webpage.
The list of exempt developments includes Aisling, Shanvogh, Ennis; Pairc na Coille, Drumbiggle Road, Ennis; Roslevan Square, Ennis; Bridge Road Apartments, Bridge Road (West of Spa), Lisdoonvarna; Bruachlan, Westbury; Carrig Midhe, Knockballymeath, Corbally; Chuirt an Droichead, Main Street, Sixmilebridge; Church Fields, Newtown Road, Clonlara; Cluainn Aoibheann, Ballycaseymore, Shannon; Tullyglass Lowlands, Tullyglass, Shannon; Cregg Beach, Miltown Malbay Road, Lahinch; Creggaun na Hilla, Hill View, Clarecastle; Gleann Cora, Ballycar Road, Newmarket-on-Fergus; Gort na Coille, Ferry Road, Kilrush; Moinin, Dough, Kilkee; Orchard Drive, Lissane, Clarecastle; Shantraud Woods, Clonlara Road, Killaloe and Slí an Fheargais, Quay Road, Clarecastle.
Five other developments are included but are only referred to by their planning file reference number. The developments are at Portumna Road, Whitegate; Bodyke Road, Tuamgraney; Main Street, Kilkishen; Scariff Road, Mountshannon and Dún Rí, Bunratty.
At Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, members of the local authority sought clarification regarding what estates are to be exempt.
At the time, director of services, Nora Kaye, said she wasn’t aware of which estates would be exempt but expected more information to become available.
Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald had put forward a motion asking for details of what estates are to be exempt and said a number of people had come to him asking why they should pay the charge, given that when they had wanted things done in their estates the council had claimed it wasn’t responsible.
With regard to his own motion, Councillor Fitzgerald said that obligation to pay the household charge should be linked to estates being taken in charge.
“If people have to pay, will the ­council take the estates in charge? We just need proper answers,” he commented.
Councillor Gerry Flynn said it was “absolute lunacy” that the list of exempt estates wasn’t available, given that the charge had already been in place for a number of days.
The South East Clare councillor’s motion was one of three on the subject of the household charge. Ennis-based Councillor Johnny Flynn proposed the council request that previous payment of development levies by householders as contributions for local authority assets be taken into account in the evaluation of levels of household charges.
Councillor Flynn said people buying houses in Clare in recent years have had to pay development levies and he claimed that having to pay the household charge as well amounts to “double taxation”.
He said that himself and his wife had been forced to pay €9,000.
Councillor John Crowe also put down a motion in which he said he was calling on “the Minister for the Environment to review the new household charge to come up with a fairer system between tenants and owners”.
Both Councillor Flynn and Councillor Crowe had their motions passed, despite a small amount of opposition to each one.