Insurance issues halt maintenance on Council housing estates in Leitrim

Insurance concerns have resulted in maintenance work on the grounds of Council housing estates in Leitrim not being undertaken.

Cllr Enda Stenson asked if grass is still being cut on green areas in housing estates, noting that the grass hasn’t been cut lately. 

“The grass needs to be cut and trimmed. It leaves the place a lot more respectable because when the grass is overgrown the place looks horrible,” he said during a meeting of the Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District.

A Council response explained that the maintenance of amenity areas in Council estates has been undertaken for many years by individuals on the Estate Management Community Employment Project (CE), which is administered by the Leitrim Development Company (LDC).

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Some insurance concerns have been raised by LDC, resulting in certain works not being undertaken. The Housing Department is liaising with LDC to address the issue and to re-establish the presence of maintenance workers under the Estate Management Community Employment Project on these estates in the short term. 

Other works, alongside grass cutting, that are carried out under this project also include hedge trimming and the maintenance of community-owned facilities.

Cllr Stenson also asked that a rural road be looked at by the district engineer for improvements. The problem area is road L5548, as it emerges onto the R201, on the road to Cloone. “It would be almost better to close the junction rather than leave it the way it is if we can’t do any work because it is dangerous,” said Cllr Stenson. He noted that people are not using the junction because it is so dangerous.

District Engineer Emma Donohoe explained that while the road will be placed on the Low Cost Safety Schemes list, which will require land agreements, and once they are agreed, sight lines can be improved, it may only improve slightly, as she said this is due to the nature of the geometry of the road.

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