Labour Councillor Harry Barrett has welcomed Labour’s first stage of the Planning And Development (Taking In Charge Of Estates ) Bill 2009, which is designed to make it easier for residents in housing estates to force developers to complete to the satisfaction of their local council, any work that may be required on roads, open spaces, car parks, sewers, watermains, drains, or other public facilities.
“In Castlebar, this has been the biggest issue brought to my attention on the doorsteps and I welcome the fact that Labour will put this Bill before the Dáil,” Cllr Barrett said. “As the law currently stands, residents in this town can only start the process of taking an estate in charge seven years after the relevant planning permission has expired. That period of time is far too long, and it means that householders in Castlebar can spend years living in estates where roads have not been finished to spec, where open spaces are unusable and dangerous, and where drainage and water supplies are not up to scratch.”
The councillor said that the Labour bill “will go some way at least to addressing this problem and will reduce from seven years to three years the period after expiry of a planning permission for which residents in an unfinished estate must wait before they can initiate proceedings.”
