Call for City Boundary to be Extended

Speaking on the Annual Housing Report last night in Cork City Council, Sinn Féin’s Jonathan O’Brien said the council could cease to be a housing authority within years unless the city boundary is extended.

“Last year the city council constructed 218 houses and bought 47. In 2010 the local authority plans to provide 360 additional houses. This is in the context of a total housing list of 6,200 with another 1,500 waiting assessment.”

“The reality is, given the shortage of building land within the current city boundaries and the need for new housing developments to be of a mixed public-private nature, the council will never make serious inroads into the housing list unless it can access land in the county.”

“As things stand, Cork City Council is already purchasing houses in the county area. This brings its own problems however – for example the services to these houses are provided by the County Council, creating a financial and jurisdictional tangle.”

“Logic dictates that many areas like Grange, Douglas, and sections of Togher and Ballyvolane which form an integral part of Cork’s urban area should come under a single local authority with the rest of the city. The case for a city boundary extension is given added urgency by the reality that otherwise Cork City Council will in a few years be confined to managing its existing housing stock, unable to house any of the additional thousands on the housing list.”

For further information contact Cllr Jonathan O’Brien @ 086-0662877