Labour calls for action on unfinished estates

THE Labour Party has called on the Government to act on the scandal of unfinished housing estates after an Irish Examiner investigation revealed thousands of householders living in developments with inadequate roads and public lighting and substandard sewage treatment plants.

Seán Sherlock, Labour TD for Cork East, said a national response was needed to support families who had paid substantial sums of money for their homes but who “now find that they are having to cope with derelict sites, unfinished houses, roads not finished, incomplete sewage systems, and no public lighting”.

“In some cases families are unable to let their children out to play because of the dangers posed by living in what is often still a building site,” Mr Sherlock said.

“These families should not be abandoned by the Government and action should be taken at national level to ensure that these estates are finished. I have found that local authority staff do their best but are hamstrung by the lack of adequate legislative powers,” he said.

Mr Sherlock has called on the Government to accept his Private Members Bill, the Planning and Development (Taking In Charge of Estates) (Time Limit) Bill 2009, which would reduce the length of time residents have to wait before an estate is taken in charge by the local authority.

“As the law currently stands, residents can only initiate the process of taking an estate in charge seven years after the relevant planning permission has expired,” Mr Sherlock said.

“That period of time is far too long.”

He said the Labour Party bill would reduce this from seven to three years.

An Irish Examiner survey of unfinished estates in 28 local authorities found there are in excess of 650 nationwide, including 140 in Sligo County Council area, which have not been satisfactorily completed.