This article is from page 19 of the 2011-11-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
THE refurbishing of council housing stock in Kilrush has been held up as offering a beacon of hope for the community and a timely antidote to the sense of hopelessness that was out there, the monthly meeting of the town’s urban authority was told last Thursday night.
The comments were made by town clerk John Corry, as all nine councillors were universal in their praise of Kilrush Town Council’s commitment to upgrading its council housing stock, through a scheme that will eventually see up 40 houses in the town renovated.
“There was a lot of talk about the feeling of hopelessness in the estate,” said Mr Corry about John Paul Estate, “but the appearance alone is a lot brighter and raises the positivity around the place. People can be proud of the area they’re living in. It has come on a long way in the last couple of months and sends out a very positive note,” he added.
Mr Corry made his comments following confirmation that the first phase of the council’s 2011 redevelopment programme has been completed, with the next stage set to commence in the coming weeks fol- lowing the completion of a tendering process for a range of works.
“There has been significant work going on in the estate over the last number of months,” said Mr Corry. “It has consisted of refurbishment of 11 houses has been virtually completed.
“The work was done to a very high standard indeed. Ten of those houses have been occupied with the 11th being snagged presently. With regard to the next phase, we propose to a further 21 houses, that needs to be split into two phases of 11 and 10.
“We have tendered for that and the tender is with the Department of the Environment. We would hope that works would begin there very, very shortly and can proceed to the next phase of 11 houses. In anticipation of that we have met with the tenants of the 11 houses and a number of them have already been transferred to alternative accommodation,” he added.
In addition to the works in John Paul Estate, improvement works have been undertaken on seven houses on Wilson’s Road, four of which have already been occupied, while the remaining three will be over the next couple of weeks.