Laois councillor pleads for council to take over her housing estate

Laois Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley and her husband Brian Stanley TD are living in an unfinished housing estate that she is pleading with Laois County Council to take in charge.

Cllr Dwane Stanley has listed many problems at Clonrooske Abbey in Portlaoise.

She has gathered other residents' signatures on a plebiscite, formally asking for the council to take the estate in charge and fix all its outstanding problems.

She tabled a motion with her request to the September meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District. It was seconded by Cllr Paddy Buggy. 

"I have had a motion on this several times. We are living there since 2009 but it was built two or three years before we moved in.

"The last section has been completed, the houses are up but I don't know if the development is finished.

"Angela (director of services Angela McEvoy) said if I got a petition (it could be taken in charge). I spent the summer going around and I have it now. There is a huge amount of outstanding works," she said.

She went on to list the issues. 

"The estate has no nameplate, and no signage to indicate the numbers of houses. The lights are giving problems. When lights are fixted within a couple of weeks they are gone again.

"The pillars need to be capped and the walls. There are sections of footpaths missing. 

"The green area adjacent to Woodgrove needs to be seeded. There is an open drain at the back of the estate. I have never seen that anywhere else where there is children playing. Trees need to be pruned, they are overgrown. 

"At the back of the estate the developer needs to snag properties. Residents are waiting, people who paid €400,000," Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

"We had huge problems with that builder. We waited three years for 33 houses.  I actually broke my toe over a sunken section of footpath three years ago. Now we have the petition, I'm asking for it to be taken in charge," she said.

In reply to her motion, Laois County Council's planning office confirmed that no application has been received from Kingscroft Developments asking to have Clonrooske Abbey taken in charge.

Read also: Laois people spotted in crowd at National Ploughing Championships

They note that phase one of the development was completed in 2007 / 2008.

"The building control team will endeavor to contact the developer with a view to having a taking in charge application submitted at the earliest opportunity," the planners said. 

Plebiscites are used to take estates over if developers did not apply for estates to be taken in charge.