Angry residents of The Folly in Waterford city have pledged to stop a sheltered housing project being constructed in the grounds of the former Saint John’s College as proposed by the Respond Housing Agency.
The Folly home owners, whose houses were built in 1972, stress that they have no objection whatsoever to sheltered housing on the College site but they are extremely angry that a new entrance is planned for the development via the busy Folly road which is part of the Inner Ring Road.
They are also extremely unhappy that 44 of the apartments will be constructed in two, three-storey apartment blocks with balconies that will overlook their homes. An existing building in the College grounds is to be converted to accommodate 71 one-bedroom units.
“We are hoping that sense will prevail and that the offending aspects of the development will be changed to take our predicament into account. But, if not, we will fight tooth and nail”, said a spokesperson for the residents.
The residents point out that The Folly is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city and when they are driving out of their slip road it often takes them ten to fifteen minutes before a break in traffic allows them to exit. “Can you imagine the chaos there will be if the occupants of 61 new apartments are trying to drive out onto the same stretch of road”, said the spokesperson.
The residents believe the best and safest option, from several points of view, is to place the entrance to the proposed development on John’s Hill which is where the main gates to the site are already in use.
See The Munster Express newspaper for a more detailed report.
Traffic at the Folly on Tuesday. | photo: Eoin Murphy
