Longford County Council need to ‘go to war’ with management companies

An elected member of Longford County Council said the local authority must “go to war” on management companies in charge of properties failing to keep properties in good condition.

Cllr Gerry Warnock raised issues regarding a number of properties in the county town not engaging with the local authority.

Cllr Warnock said: “I have never seen it so bad. I have engaged with the environment section of the council on the issue.”

The independent councillor highlighted two particular properties: “There is a management company in charge of the maintenance and taking care of the rubbish at Weavers Hall. They are not engaging with the environment section.

“I have a similar issue with Annaly Court. We carried out regeneration works with the Longford Connected Project not so long ago. The eve gutters were overflowing. This was leading to a deluge like Niagara Falls coming down on a wet day. It's a huge safety issue,” he said.

Cllr Warnock said a firm stance must be taken on the issue. “If the management company is not engaging with the local authority we have to go to war with them. We can't accept lower standards in our county town.”

The elected representative said he was reflecting the views of many locals. “We had a first meeting of the Town Team, a very productive meeting. One of the things that came across very strongly was that we should not accept anything but the highest standards in our county town.”

Cllr Warnock reiterated the need for action. “The message I am sending out is that we need to enforce the planning conditions applied to these properties. If these management companies are not vigorously engaging with the local authority then we need to go to war with them.”