With recent 'ghost estate' reports sparking plenty of debate nationally and locally on the issue, Leitrim's councillors acknowledged they were now facing a serious situation.

Cllr Enda McGloin put forward a motion calling for the establishment of a sub-committee to review the issue of unfinished housing estates in Co Leitrim.

Speaking at last Monday's Council meeting, Cllr McGloin said he feared that "inside 10 years time we'll be facing an armageddon situation where the Council will be forced to take over these estates and the bonds might not be sufficient" to pay for the outstanding work.

He said that it was essential that councillors be aware of the facts and figures surrounding the situation in Co Leitrim and added "I think we should meet regularly with the planning department and enforcement department to at least know where we are going on this issue."

His motion was unanimously supported by councillors across the parties and it also received support from Council management who said that they had recently carried out a "walking survey" of housing estates throughout the county.

"We have a substantial amount of information and we'll hopefully be presenting this at the March Council meeting," said County Manager, Jackie Maguire.

Councillors also expressed their disappointment with the national media's portrayal of the county following the publication of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) on so called 'ghost estates'.

In the study, the NIRSA claimed that the county had 21 ghost estates. The figures suggested that Co Leitrim had the highest rate of ghost estates per head of population, something hotly denied by Council staff.

While acknowledging there is a problem with unfinished estates and accepting there are some estates with little occupancy, County Manager, Jackie Maguire said that the Council had undertaken a walking survey of occupancy in estates across the county late last year.

"We actually feel that the information we have collected is more accurate than that projected in the media in recent days," she said.
Independent councillor, Enda Stenson said he didn't personally believe that there were as many ghost estates in Co Leitrim as the national media has suggested and Cllr Gordon Hughes said that he felt that the way that the county was portrayed in the media in recent days was "grossly unfair".

He said it was vital residents in unfinished estates be given support to allow them to form Residents' Associations and to deal with and understand the issues arising from the situation.

Cllr John McTernan agreed saying that many people in this situation were not aware of issues surrounding things like water supply and repair, or sewerage.

Councillors agreed that they must be proactive in dealing with the issue of unfinished estates and Sinn Fein's Cllr Michael Colreavy said "the experience of people living in unfinished estates needs to be our priority."

He said it was obvious that current planning legislation was geared towards protecting the developer rather than looking after the interests of the residents and this would have to be addressed, something supported by Cllr Gerry Kilrane, who said that the current legislation was "definitely inadequate".

Cllr Martin Kenny stressed it was no use indulging in a blame game, "solutions have to be found. There are a significant number of people living in unfinished estates and it is simply unacceptable."

He suggested that the Minister for Environment come up with some proposals to deal with unfinished estates and recommended the creation of a work programme which would allow the completion of outstanding works on estates, with the possibility of getting the money retrospectively from the developers.

Cllr Gerry Reynolds said he was in full support of Cllr McGloin's proposal to form a sub committee saying that the "Council shouldn't be afraid to go public about the situation facing it" and stressing the importance of ensuring that councillors were up to speed with the facts and figures relevant to Co Leitrim.

"Our most important job here is to improve the situation for those living in unfinished estates," reiterated Council Chairperson, Thomas Mulligan, "they must be our priority and this issue will certainly be a priority in the coming months and years".