At the Claremorris electoral area meeting this week Fine Gael councillor John Cribben questioned when the housing grants for the elderly would be paid out.
However the response was not what the councillor had hoped to hear. Senior executive officer Padraic Flanagan told the councillor that the council is still awaiting its allocation from the Department. “We are caught in a net and we can’t pay out anything until we know what we’re getting. There are also a number of emergency cases that we are trying to prioritise as soon as the money comes on stream. It’s not a satisfactory situation, but we are stuck with what we have until we find out our allocation and then you’ll know straight away.”
Ballyhaunis development plan
Cllr Cribben also asked for an update on the development plan for Ballyhaunis town and when the people could expect to see action on the ground in relation to it. Director of services for the area Seamus Granahan informed him that the draft plan was sent to the Department last Friday and it has four weeks to come back to the council on it. “One of the issues that they might come back to us about is the need for a strategic environmental assessment. If they don’t want us to carry out one, we should be ready to publish it in May, then go through the usual consultation process before we put it before the members,” he explained. Cllr Cribben asked the council executive if they think that the Department would look for a strategic environmental assessment and further hold up the process. Mr Flanagan said he didn’t expect it to be held up but the process was complicated.
