KILDARE: 150 estates need work done before they can be taken in charge
'Money needs to be found'
Funding should be sought to pay for the problems associated with so called legacy estates across County Kildare - meaning it's unclear who is responsible for any infrastructural issues that arise.
These are estates which remain unfinished by developers and so have not yet been taken in charge by Kildare County Council.
Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer told a KCC meeting that capital funding should be put in place annually to address legacy estates in County Kildare.
Cllr Padraig McEvoy said that it is difficult to prosecute developers who leave unfinished estates behind under the existing planning legislation.
He also questioned the use of local property tax finding to carry out this work.
KCC estimates gather are about 150 legacy type estates in the county where work has not been completed to a taking in charge standard.
Legacy developments are defined as “older” estates where the planning permission has typically expired, the developer may have ceased trading and there may be inadequate or no bond funds available to complete the estate..
KCC favours canvassing the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage “requesting that a national fund be established to provide funding to local authorities in order to bring legacy estates to an appropriate taking in charge standard.”
KCC official Celina Barrett said older estates have a variety problems such the absence of adequate road surface or broken footpaths. In some areas there is no bond available to pay for the work or the bond collapsed during the economic crash of more than a decade ago.