Council slammed for ‘hoarding’ €15.2m

Cork County Council has been accused of sitting on €15.2m which it took in as development levies and which should be spent on improving roads, lighting, and footpaths.

The figure was revealed by acting county manager, Declan Daly, as part of an overview of how much money still remains in the council’s own coffers from these special charges which were primarily levied on developers who built homes along the corridor of the Cork-Midleton railway line.

Iarnród Eireann has been given €6.7m of the contributions as part of a deal with the local authority which led to the reopening of the commuter railway line in Jul 2009.

Cllr Seamus McGrath (FF) criticised the local authority for “hoarding” the remaining €15.2m which he said could be spent on vital services.

Mr McGrath said that it was “unjustifiable” in this day and age not to spend it on infrastructure “shortcomings” in many areas.

The council has had to repay some money to developers if they didn’t carry out their intended projects or only partially completed them.

In such cases, repayments have to be made seven years after the initial special contribution payment was made.

In 2011, €48,407 was paid back to developers; with a further €24,890 the following year. To date this year, the council has repaid €149,448, which would have related to partially or fully unfinished projects dating back to 2006.

There are fears that as the building boom came to an end in the following year, many projects which were subject to special contributions never came to fruition and thus in the coming years the council may have to repay a sizeable amount of the €15.2m it has banked.

Cllr McGrath said he recognised this but felt the council should know at this stage which projects were completed and therefore how much money it could release out of the €15.2m for infrastructure improvements.

“We’re shortchanging communities,” he said.

Cllr Andrias Moynihan (FF) said that “it was very difficult to stomach” seeing such a large sum of money not being used to improve the lives of communities.

“It’s hugely important to know if plans are in place to spend money on improving junctions and street lighting,” he said.

Mr Daly said he totally rejected Cllr McGrath’s claim that the officials were hoarding the money.

He said a number of capital projects were planned for the money and added that the contributions had to be spent in the specific area they were deemed for and told councillors this meant they couldn’t be moved to different areas.