Donegal woman seriously injured after fall

A woman visiting Holywell Retirement Village in Killea suffered extensive facial injuries following a bad fall due to the lack of street lighting in the development.

Kay Lattimore was lucky not to lose an eye when she fell on Sunday, October 31, according Sharon McDermott who lives in Holywell Retirement Village.

Sharon and many other residents, including Joe and Shirley Temple, have been campaigning, “tirelessly but unsuccessfully”, to have their estate, which was built in 2005, finished out.

Currently, there is no street lighting on the main thoroughfare, where Kay Lattimore fell, and only one lamppost in each of the cul-de-sacs in the development.

Speaking to Donegal Live, Sharon said the residents are being passed from pillar to post between the current developers and the planning department of Donegal County Council.

She explained: “The prevailing attitude seems to be, 'They are old, just forget about them'. There is no street lighting in Holywell Retirement Village. The estate was built by Toland Development, which went into receivership in 2012. As a result, it has not been taken in charge by Donegal County Council.

“The elderly residents are having to maintain the public areas, painting fences and cutting grass, even though they have paid management fees. In addition, the roads within Holywell Retirement Village have not been adopted by the Council either.

“We have been in touch with everyone to try and resolve the situation, councillors, the planning department of Donegal County Council, even the Minister for Housing.

“When planning permission was given for Holywell Retirement Village, a bond was paid by the original developer. It is my understanding that bond, which amounts to approximately €50,000, is still in the possession of Donegal County Council but our estate has never been finished out. There is no street lighting. The place is in pitch darkness and we have been saying all along, 'This is an accident waiting to happen'. Then, a lady fell on Sunday night and suffered extensive bruising on her face and eye.

“Seven years after the original developer went into liquidation, we have made no progress on getting matters within the estate rectified.”

One of the cul-de-sacs in Holywell Retirement Village was left empty in 2012. It was subsequently taken over by National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which put it up for auction in 2019.

According to Ms McDermott it was bought by two builders, who had the responsibility of finishing out the sewers and the street lighting.

Sharon added: “Those builders came back to me in 2019 and said there was a shortfall of €15,000 in the bond to carry out the necessary work and would the residents make it up?

“Residents here have already paid in full for their homes. Paid their mortgages. Paid for what the estate was supposed to offer, including gates and home security systems. This was supposed to be a secure area.

“I have been campaigning for years to get the estate finished out to the standard envisaged when it received planning permission. I have been going from planning to the developer and back. Summing it up, 'The Council will not pay the builder until the builder does the work and the builder will not do the work until he gets the bond'.

“Part of the agreement with NAMA was that they would finish out the rest of the site. People have been living in the houses in that cul-de-sac for nearly a year and a half but there is still no street lighting.

“There are no lampposts. Four years ago, we actually paid ESB to put up lights for us. The builders got them turned off because they were having to foot the electricity bill. When you are walking in, especially in the winter, it is seriously dark in the estate.”

“It is impossible to see the kerb or where you are going without a torch,” said Sharon. “The roads are tarmacadamed but they do not have the proper finished surface, which would enable them to be adopted.
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I am concerned for the older people living here, if they are walking alone at night, even going down to the chapel. One of my neighbours has told me she is actually afraid to go to the chapel in the dark because she is afraid of falling. She has stopped going.

“They are blaming Covid-19 but it should not take this long to get our estate finished out. I did a bit of research before the pandemic and discovered there is a fund in the Department of Housing which meets the shortfall in bonds. Why can this not be used for Holywell Retirement Village? There is also a big hole at the end of the estate, which has been lying for a year and a half. Apparently the water pressure was not right. The hole is covered by wood and it has never been fixed. It is extremely dangerous.

“We had bother with our sewage and I paid to get that fixed myself. The gratings are blocked and when it rains the water lies everywhere.”

Sharon said she was highlighting the situation in Holywell Retirement Village because she was concerned about the safety of residents .

“We want the lights fully switched on. In a retirement village, especially, every light should be on.

“I have asked for the planners and the builders to meet the residents on site but to no avail.

“These were supposed to be our dream homes. A place where people could retire and enjoy life,” said Sharon.

Cllr Terry Crossan confirmed that two new developers had taken over Holywell Retirement Village.

“One developer has responsibility for the houses and the other has responsibility for roads.

“There is a €50,000 bond still under the control of Donegal County Council and the developer responsible for the roads has been told that when addresses the roads to an adequate standard, that will be released.

“The developer wanted some certainty around sewage and water and was in discussion with Irish Water and that does not seem to have made a lot of progress to date.

“Regarding the lady who fell and was badly injured, I would ask the question, 'Who is responsible? If there is a new company in charge of roads, would there be public liability responsibility there? If she was injured as a result of the non-completion and the disrepair of roads, is that a matter for the developer?” said Cllr Crossan.

Donegal Live asked Donegal County Council for a comment on the situation regarding Holywell Retirement Village. At the time of going to print, it had not been received.