'Push' promised to rebuild burnt out Portlaoise houses
A "push" has been promised by Laois County Council to speed up the demolition and rebuilding of two burnt out council houses.
Numbers 13 and 14 Lakeglen in Portlaoise were destroyed by a fire in April 2022.
Laois County Council expects to spend upwards of €700,000 to replace them.
The slow progress on action has been criticised again by Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley who last April urged at least that the "eyesore" be demolished.
At the June council meeting, the council reported that they have now appointed a design team, after a tender process held last December 2022. They say that Stage 1 is to be submitted to the Department of Housing. That is an initial approval to generally fund the project, ahead of actually approving exact funding and tendering and appointing a contractor.
"How many stages are there? When will we see a design? I have asked that at least one be for disabilities," Cllr Dwane Stanley said.
In reply, the Director of Services for Housing Angela McEvoy said "we will push it to get it going".
The council had to push already to get approval to knock both of the houses, as one was not as damaged as the other where the fire began.
An engineers report found that one of the houses has suffered structural damage to the roof and a party wall while the roof has been completely destroyed on the second property which has also had windows burnt out. Nothing has been left salvageble on the first floor. A Garda investigation was launched at the time of the fire.
The council will apply to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) for Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) for funding for the project's completion.
The tender document say the estimated budget is €669,680 ex VAT for the construction of the houses.