AARON KENT
Speaking at the September meeting of Comeragh Municipal District Council, Cllr. John O’Leary called the Cosmo housing developments ‘a burning issue’ in Kilmeaden.
After a protracted legal battle, and much local complaint, it is understood that four houses must either be demolished or reduced to a single story in a newly built Kilmeaden housing development. The development consists of 28 houses in total and the offending houses are reported to be 3-4 metres higher than would be expected.
While locals welcome the intervention, some say there are more houses that should be addressed.
“The council, to be fair, were successful in appealing and getting reduced four of the houses, that were not in accordance with the planning regulations,” he acknowledged.
“The council was successful in the high court in relation to this. But what beggars belief is that more than four houses were outside the planning regulation in relation to height which were not addressed.
“Some of the local people are still affected by the height of houses there, their needs are not being catered for. I’m asking why is that the case? Residents in the Kilmeaden area who are living near this development want to know why and they are not getting a satisfactory answer,” Cllr. O’Leary added.
A COMPLEX CASE
Aisling O’Sullivan, Senior Planner for Waterford City and County Council replied by saying she couldn’t go into too much detail but that Waterford Council had got the best result they could on the matter.
“I’m not going to say a huge amount on this because there is an application that is still within the appeal period,” she explained. “But what I will say is that it is a very complex legal case. It was a High Court case and on the basis of advice from Senior Council we were taken to the position that we are in now I suppose.
“That was the most pragmatic, and the only real option available to us from a legal perspective,” she continued. “We did get an undertaking that the houses will be demolished or reduced to a single story and we are working with that legal agreement. The action that we took and the agreement that we made was on the basis on senior council advice.”
To this Cllr. O’Leary reiterated that the outcome was not satisfactory, and suggested the homes of some residents have lost value due to the partial nature of the solution.
“It is baffling that there are two houses that should have a reduction in them, but another two houses 10 yards below them were not even considered,” he replied.
“I’m speaking here on behalf of one resident who had invested heavily in his own house but is overshadowed by the failure of the High Court to address those particular houses,” Cllr. O’Leary added.
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