Row over social housing plan for Riverside Manor
 |
| Some of the residents of Riverside Manor who feel they are victims of 'underhand' action by KCC. |
Residents of Riverside Manor are up in arms over a plan by Kildare County Council to use all of the next phase of their estate to house local authority tenants, writes Brian Byrne.
Riverside Manor Residents Association only became aware of the move in recent weeks, when Clúid Housing, the country's largest Approved Housing Body providing social housing, negotiated an agreement with the developer to buy 64 units in the 100-plus new phase development. The residents say they have since learned that Clúid plan to buy all the houses in Phase 2.
They say the deal has been done in an 'underhand' manner by Kildare County Council, who last week confirmed they are supporting the Clúid proposal. The Council will lease the Clúid houses on long term to cut down the 400-plus social housing waiting list in the area.
The residents are livid over the fact that there was no consultation of any kind with them on the proposal. On the contrary, as recently as a few weeks ago they had received assurances from the developer and the Council on levels of social housing and on matters relating to the taking in charge of Riverside Manor.
They say the new plan will 'substantially change the nature' of a quiet, mature estate of privately owned properties with a mix of families and elderly residents. Their concerns are both about impact on 'the social cohesion and community spirit' of the existing estate and of the effect on their own property values.
The residents emphasise that they have no issue with there being a proportion of social housing as required under legislation, but the scale of this plan would have 'a detrimental impact' on the estate and on Kilcullen itself. They say it will bring the level of local authority housing in the town well above the county average and 'is contrary to the Council's own stated standards'.
Local councillor Tracey O'Dwyer has also criticised the way the Council has gone about the matter, saying it is 'legal but ethically a bit underhanded' and that the authority 'is not listening to its social conscience'.
Cllr O’Dwyer has been working with the residents for over a year on trying to have issues dealt with that have been holding up taking the estate in charge. She believed that following discussions as recently as four weeks ago with the estate’s engineer and the developer, they were well on the way to having this done. “The residents were all delighted. Then literally a week later I got a heads-up that the development was being sold to Clúid and they had approached the Council with a proposal that they place 64 tenants in it.”
There are fears that the agreement between the Council will be signed very soon unless the authority accedes to residents' demands to pause the process for consultation, and that it could be presented as a fait accompli.
I have the full story in tomorrow's Kildare Nationalist.
