‘Get tough on smart-ass developers’, council told

Kerry County Council was urged yesterday to call in a €1.25m bond on an unfinished housing estate in Castleisland.

Fine Gael Cllr Bobby O’Connell, who had already highlighted problems with the sewerage works at Cahereen Heights, also said a safety issue had now arisen following the appearance of a sinkhole in the private estate.

Independent Cllr Brendan Cronin said the council should get tough with “cowboy, smart-ass developers” who should not be allowed get away without meeting their obligations.

A deputation of local residents recently told a meeting of Killarney Municipal Authority they were paying to keep the sewage pumps in operation themselves, but people in five houses on a council rent allowance scheme were not paying.

Deputation spokesman, Charlie Farrelly, said they would stop paying for the removal of sewage from the five houses if the council did not take action before December 1.

He also said the vast majority of residents had paid thousands of euro in the past eight years and could not continue paying indefinitely.

There are more than 90 houses in Cahereen Heights and the council has accepted there were difficulties with the sewerage system since the construction stage.

Senior council manager, John Breen, said the difficulties arose because the developers had not complied with the conditions of planning.

In relation to the rent allowance tenants, he also said the obligation was on the landlord to pay money to the management company in the estate, but the council was not the landlord.