Kilcullen residents feel ‘excluded’, Kildare County Council told by Cllr
The comments were made by a councillor aligned with Fine Gael
Local residents feel 'excluded' when it comes to purchasing houses in Kilcullen.
The comments were relayed to Kildare County Council (KCC) by Fine Gael councillor Tracey O'Dwyer, at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District (MD) meeting, which was held on Wednesday, April 17 last.
Cllr O'Dwyer motioned for KCC 'to consider implementing an affordable housing scheme element in all future residential developments in Kilcullen to give local families the opportunity to purchase a house in Kilcullen.'
Her motion was seconded by Sinn Féin Cllr Noel Connolly.
She told KCC: "I work with quite a few housing queries in Kilcullen, and the biggest issue (in Kilcullen) is that local people feel that they have been excluded from being able purchase a house in Kilcullen.
Fine Gael Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer.
"However, only one development went on the open market and a second much larger development was purchased in full by a housing body.
"In fact, KCC had great difficulty in allocating the housing and had to make numerous offers to complete the allocations."
Cllr O'Dwyer added: "I firmly believe that the council needs to be firm in their resolve and discussions with devlopers in Kilcullen, as it has such limited residential zoning on offer to ensure all needs are being met in line with our county development plan."
KCC responded to Cllr O'Dwyer's motion and comments with the following: "As advised in the Chief Executive report, the council is progressing feasibility studies for the delivery of two direct build social and affordable projects in the MD, 32 affordable units are planned for Coolaghknock Glebe, Kildare town and 40 affordable units are planned for Rickardstown, Newbridge.
"The council is engaging with developers regarding the potential of delivering affordable turnkey units across the county, including in Kilcullen, to date no agreement has been reached to deliver units in Kilcullen."
KCC continued: "We will continue to explore all opportunities for affordable delivery, and we have an open call for expressions of interest."
"The members will be updated on schemes through the monthly Chief Executives Report," KCC concluded.