Plans for 200 social houses in the Nenagh district

Council sale agreed on town pub site

Tipperary Co Council has plans in train for around 200 new housing units in the Nenagh district.

The bulk of these - 67 units - are to be provided in the town in association with the Respond approved housing body (AHB) at Tyone. A number of new plans were recently outlined, including a development of 13 units at the Millersbrook housing estate and another 10 at New Line. The council is also in the process of acquiring a pub site in Nenagh for the development of more housing.

The March report on the council's housing construction programme in Nenagh Municipal District mentions several other schemes at various stages of progress. These include Gortlandroe (27 units), Rialto site (13), William St (seven) and Springfort Meadows (19).

Outside the town, plans are progressing for 21 units in Puckaun, along with Rathcabbin (six) and Mulcair Manor, Newport (10). Among the recently completed developments in the district are 14 houses in Portroe village, Mulkear View, Newport (11) and 10 as-yet unoccupied units at Woodview Close.

While he welcomed to see so many houses coming to Nenagh, local councillor Séamie Morris last week took issue with how news of the plans is being announced.

“It's very hard to sell anything to the citizens of Nenagh when the council have purchased or identified sites for social housing and brought it from the first stage on without even bothering to tell local councillors,” he wrote in an email to the council's Housing directorate.

He raised the matter at last week's district meeting, where Cllr Morris said the council had bought a site at Millersbrook originally intended for seven units; now 13 units are to be built there. He said the authority should have talked to local residents and councillors about the plan.

A similar situation existed at New Line, though Cllr Morris was delighted to find that the plan there relates to the former Burkes pub, which has been vacant for many years.

He noted that the 10 houses at Woodview Close are to be allocated to “people over a certain age”, and therefore would not be available to most people on the housing list.

FRUSTRATION WITH FOUR-STAGE PROCESS

Cllr Morris was joined by Cllr Hughie McGrath in expressing frustration over the four-stage process involved in developing social housing. They agreed that the process is too long, too costly and difficult to explain to people.

Cllr McGrath observed that more than two years have passed since planning was granted for the 67 units at Tyone. Nearly a year has passed since plans were announced for 27 houses at the former Dr Nugent residence at Gortlandroe, but there is “nothing happening” with these sites.

On hearing that it could be 2026 or even 2027 before most of the planned houses are built, Cllr McGrath called on the council to look for a way of “fast-tracking” the four-stage process and bringing it forward by at least 15 months.

Cllr Fiona Bonfield was also glad to see so many houses planned, but she expressed concern that there are 776 applicants on the council's housing list. She praised the council's housing delivery, but said the targets set by the government are too low.

TREATMENT PLANT STUMBLING BLOCK

Cllr Joe Hannigan was concerned that there are no new houses planned for Borrisokane or Cloughjordan. This he said is because of wastewater treatment capacity, an issue that Uisce Éireann needs to quickly resolve.

Cora Morrissey said the Nenagh district is performing well in terms of housing delivery with 86 allocations last year. She pointed out that the 67 units at Tyone were subject to a review that is now complete; the next stage is onsite commencement.

Executive Engineer Eoin Delaney dealt with other queries in relation to the six houses planned at Rathcabbin, which he said would likely commence in Q3 or Q4 of this year. A two-year construction timeframe should be allowed.

It was a similar position with the 21 houses planned for Puckaun, while there are no plans for new houses in Ballina due to the wastewater treatment plant there too.

Senior Executive Officer Robert Johnston said the council is engaging proactively with Uisce Éireann on wastewater treatment capacity. He said the council's housing targets are set out under the Housing for All programme.

The Dept of Housing has set a 2024 target of 158 new units and the council is aiming to exceed that, Mr Johnston said.

DAPP INN SITE

In a comprehensive statement on Cllr Morris' email, A/Senior Engineer Jonathan Cooney explained the four-stage process, making the point that a housing scheme would only get funded if it is brought to Stage 1 approval.

“It is at this stage that we inform the elected members,” Mr Cooney stated. “The reasoning for this is that schemes can change from initial concept design to Stage 1 approval as a result of dialogue between the local authority and the department...

“It is important that when we make information available on the public record that there is structure behind that decision. Essentially, there is no scheme that can be delivered without a Stage 1 approval.”

In response to Cllr Morris' question on whether the council has bought the Dapp Inn site in Nenagh, Mr Cooney stated that the council “has gone sale agreed on the Dapp Inn”.

“A Stage 1 will be prepared on the site and this will dictate the actual number of units that we can achieve,” Mr Cooney said. “Preliminary sketches have been done but it would be inappropriate of me to be speculating further until we complete a detailed assessment. We will do this once we own the site.”