Labour Councillor and Mayor of the City and County of Waterford, Seamus Ryan has called for a ‘one-stop shop’ on housing, which he suggests is the biggest issue facing Waterford people at present.
According to Mayor Ryan this should serve as a drop-in workshop, where interested people can get up to date on all the housing schemes and solutions currently available through Waterford Council.
“I would ask that we have a one-stop shop on housing, one here in City Hall and [Council Civic Offices] in Dungarvan, providing information on all the housing options available to applicants on housing, renting, grants, mortgages, housing applications, etc.,” said Mayor Ryan, speaking at the recent meeting of Waterford Metropolitan District Council.
“There are a whole host of options out there for people that are experiencing problems with housing. We all know that housing is the possibly the single biggest issue at the moment. there is a lot of information out there, a lot of options that people are not aware of and we should be doing all we can as a council to provide that information.”
Speaking on behalf of the Housing Department, Donal Ó Murchadha, explained that they would welcome the idea, particularly so as this was an area that Waterford Council excelled in.
“Absolutely, we would engage in the notion of a one-stop shop. The promotion of all our schemes and people not being aware, that’s something we observe even at a national level,” Mr. Ó Murchadha said
“We have absolutely been trying to get our head around how to engage people more.”
Mayor for the Waterford Metropolitan Area, Adam Wyse, supported the effort from Cllr. Ryan and suggested the lack of public awareness could be viewed as a Council failure.
“Just to support Cllr. Ryan on his request for a one-stop shop on housing, I think you [could] try hold an event, in the SETU Arena or in a hotel, and bring people in,” said Mayor Wyse.
“I’m always blown away by the amount of people that don’t know about the Affordable Housing Scheme, don’t know about Help to Buy, don’t know about the supports that the Council give.
“I think we need to do more because a lot of time people come to us as Councillors and ask and we have to go and provide that information,” explained Mayor Wyse, “But it’s amazing that hasn’t been pushed out there so much really. It’s not the people’s fault, it’s a failing of ours really as a Council and us as reps I suppose.
“Anytime anybody uses these schemes they are blown away by how well they work,” Mayor Wyse added.
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
