Councillors call on developers to address 'confusion' of estate name duplication in Cork towns
Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath said the duplication of residential estate names is now quite common. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Postmen, parcel delivery drivers and even the gardaí are getting confused by the growing number of housing estates with similar names in Co Cork towns.
Several councillors believe a new system needs to be introduced to prevent developers from duplicating estate names, especially those which are ‘green sounding'.
The issue was raised by members of the Carrigaline Municipal District Council, which oversees some of the biggest housing estates in the county.
Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath said the duplication of residential estate names is now quite common.
“This results in significant day-to-day issues for residents and others. I have heard of countless stories of letters and other parcels being delivered to the wrong address because of identical estate names.
"Important and time-sensitive post and packages can be delayed and mislaid as a result. I am also aware of cases where members of An Garda Síochána turned up at the wrong addresses, which clearly can be extremely serious,” Mr McGrath said.
Mr McGrath said there should be safeguards in place to prevent this.
“The county council’s planning department should ensure this does not happen. There are an infinite number of possible names and we should not see the same names repeated multiple times,” he said.
Mr McGarth said he was getting an increasing number of complaints from constituents about the issue.
Independent councillor Marcia D’Alton said she knew of two estates in her hometown of Passage West which have the same names and it causes confusion.
Fine Gael councillor Jack White said it was becoming “an issue” in Carrigaline.
He said online shopping had increased significantly during the
Covid-19 pandemic, but many people don’t use their Eircode addresses and as a result delivery drivers end up at the wrong house.
“Anything we can do [in the council] to avoid duplication would be welcome. There needs to be a registry of estate names to ensure there’s no repetition,” Mr White said.
Council officials said a procedure for naming housing developments had been established by the local authority last September.
They added there was an objective in the new County Development Plan which states developers should "promote and preserve local place names, local heritage and the Irish language by ensuring the use of local place names or geographical or cultural names reflect the history and landscape of their setting".
Mr McGrath maintained this did not go far enough and urged officials to seek ways to stamp out duplication.
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