MORE THAN 1,500 households in estates in Galway city and county will finally be taken in charge by the local authorities following the announcement of Government funding.
The Minister for Local Government, Simon Coveney, has allocated €762,220 to the Galway city and county councils under the National Taking in Charge Initiative, a €9 million national fund to help local authorities with the taking-in-charge of housing developments.
“The funding will benefit households across 36 housing developments, including at Moycullen, Oughterard, Barna, Claregalway, and Athenry, and will be used to ensure "developments are properly completed and maintained".
The allocation has been welcomed by the Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources and Fine Gael Galway West TD Seán Kyne.
“One of the negative impacts of the economic crisis was on the ‘taking in charge’ process whereby recently-completed housing developments are brought under the remit of the council," he said. “Difficulties emerged regarding the completion or maintenance of infrastructure such as footpaths, lighting, or water and waste-water connections."
According to Minister Kyne, the initiative "should be seen in the context of the Government’s forthcoming Action Plan for Housing", with funding provided through local authorities to support the provision of new infrastructure to support the development of high quality homes.
