‘Why will it take three years to start building four council houses?’ - Cllr

Construction of four social houses on council-owned land in Laghey is listed as being due to start in 2025.

Cllr Micheál Naughton (FF) questioned the lengthy delay and was assured by council staff that it was a ‘worst case scenario.’

“The design was done in 2020,” said Cllr Naughton at the December meeting of the Municipal District (MD) of Donegal.

“It will be 2025 before it starts. That to me doesn’t sound right. 

“If Laghey is going to be a satellite town for Donegal Town and it is going to take another  three years to build four houses it is not going to be much of a satellite town. 

“That is what frustrates the general public. That is what frustrates me as a councillor. It is our land. It should be a quick turnaround.”

Cllr Noel Jordan (SF) said there seemed to be around five phases to any development.

“The problem doesn’t lie in this MD, it is in Dublin,” he said. 

“The Department [of Housing] has to sign off on things. 

“In my opinion, the problem lies solely with the Department.”

Tara Quinn, Executive Architect Housing Capital with Donegal County Council explained the stages of the process. 

She said that sketches and designs which had been sent to the Department of Housing had come back with comments to be addressed. Agreements needed to be put in place with boundary land owners, and the footpath was quite narrow.

“Even though it is a small project, it is complex,” she said.

Ms Quinn explained that if all went well, the project could go to Part 8 planning for March. However, if approval didn’t come back from the Department in time, it would be at least May. 

Then there would be engineers’ reports, etc, followed by tenders and consultation phases.

Regarding the start date of 2025, Ms Quinn said: “I expect that to be the worst case scenario.”