Council watch: A Cork City councillor bows out and updates on housing
A Sinn Féin councillor calls it quits after two years, and two big reports on housing dominate the monthly meeting at Cork City Council.
Green Party deputy mayor Colette Finn chaired the monthly meeting of Cork City Council last night, and quite early on in the proceedings, she called on Sinn Féin’s Eolan Ryng to address his fellow councillors and the Executive.
The news from Ryng, a schoolteacher and father of a young family, was that he was resigning from the Council. Ryng said he had taken the decision to retire as he would not be able to give the role the level of attention it requires and deserves.
“I am a person who always gives one hundred percent, and I know that won't be possible going forward. It was a hard decision but also the right one for me,” he said.
Ryng had been a councillor since 2021 when he was selected by SF to take over from Henry Cremin.
Much like a funeral, his fellow councillors all had only good things to say about the “honourable” councillor. Indeed, in proceedings at council meetings, Ryng was fair and measured, often peppering his contributions with historical insights.
Cllr Oliver Moran (Green Party)said it was an indictment of the system that local politics can't retain councillors such as Ryng, for what is essentially a full-time job, even though it's carried out as a part-time role. Ryng joins Derry Canty in not seeking re-election in the upcoming local elections. The Deupty mayor referred to the recent op-ed on Tripe + Drisheen by Dr. Aodh Quinlivan in which he referred to “local government is the Cinderella of the Irish political system.”
Cllr Shane O’Callaghan (FG) remarked that considering the work rate of his fellow councillor, Ryng would have been a shoe-in at the next local elections, scheduled for the summer of 2024. However, for now, it's not to be, and someone else will fill his shoes. SF stated that they plan to have a replacement for Ryng for the next all-council meeting in November.
Housing Report 1
Niall Ó Donnabháin, the director of housing, addressed the Council with an update regarding the plans for the apartment blocks at Noonan Road, St. Finbarr’s Road, Dean Street and Fort Street. For decades, residents there have been campaigning about the condition of the flats, which were built 60 years ago.
As Ó Donnabháin outlined, some of the residents have been residing in the flats for over 40 years, and some are in their 80s and 90s.
In July, the council executive conducted a site visit, and since then, staff at Cork City Council have been meeting with the residents as they chart a path forward for those living there.
From that report:
Before the site visit on July 24, 9 households had expressed an interest in transferring from the flat complexes in the area. Since that time and as of the end of September, this number had increased to 49.
From applications received to date, residents generally have a preference for Greenmount, Ballyphehane and Togher. Priority is being given to residents from all complexes on Choice Based Letting. The table below gives a detailed breakdown of the numbers and status of the units across the four complexes
As the report outlines, given the age of the buildings and their condition, demolition and rebuilding is the preferred option, on a phased basis. Of course, the caveat is that the regeneration scheme is all dependent on funding.
Ó Donnabháin said Cork City Council would be exploring multiple sources of funding. Sean Martin (FF) stated that his party would not be found lacking when it comes to securing funding for the regeneration.
The regeneration plan for the flats, which are situated in a historic part of the city, was universally welcomed by councillors. Mick Finn (Independent), a long-time campaigner for the redevelopment of the flats, pointed out that the previous two council bosses had not given the flats the attention they deserved and expressed gratitude to the council leadership for the site visit and the follow-ups.
Several councillors noted that the regeneration of the flats at Noonan’s Road could serve as a test case for how the City Council approaches similar aging developments in the Marsh and also in Togher.
No idea of costs or a timeline was outlined.
Housing report 2
Details of a second housing report were also discussed in last night’s meeting. The plainly titled "Housing Progress Report August 2023" is effectively a scorecard of the Council's plan to build 5,671 affordable and social homes between 2022 and 2026 in various areas across the city. (The breakdown is 3,934 social homes and 1,737 affordable homes)
Next year will mark the halfway point in that timeline, and the Council is working closely with approved housing bodies to meet its targets.
The report noted that "a large number of schemes" had been completed in recent months. According to the status report, a total of 1,292 homes have been completed, while 847 are under construction, and 239 homes are "to go to construction."
A total of 63 units are currently in pre-planning under the Capital Assistance Scheme, while an additional 366 "units" are at the tender stage, either post-planning or pre-planning.
Furthermore, another 246 units will be delivered through regeneration schemes.
A snapshot from that report provides an insight into the situation for those seeking affordable or social housing in the city.
As of August, there were more than 4,500 eligible applicants, with just over 3,500 seeking to secure a house through the choice-based letting system. This system is designed to help people find a house in the area where they currently reside, given their ties to the area such as kids going to school in the area or family nearby.
It speaks for itself that a City planning to reduce the climate foot print/GHG emissions by some 55% within 6 years is still demolishing existing structures instead of renovating them for a fraction of the climate damage.
That proclaimed new 'social housing' is benefiting the 1% of society who are making profits and will be occupied by the existing social renters who are shifted from one house to the next since their neglected old houses are falling apart - making room for more profit.
Always follow the money.
Hi,
directly effected by the demolition plans at Noonan Rd. I have to say that regeneration of the flats was due some 30 years ago.ALL responsible councilors have failed in this task, have proven their utterly incompetence on the issue.
Some of the buildings are life threatening since decades,loose roof parts like for example metal sheeting some 5 meters long hanging on a single nail 10 meters above the footpath do not attract attention from no one.
Load bearing walls are bulging outwards,are by no means safe for by-passers and inhabitants. Blocked sewers running sewage of foot paths - since decades!Were never designed from the very building of the houses to function in a hygienic way.
The steel reinforcement of the concrete stairs could have been saved/repaired for IRP 50.- some 30 years ago,now the stairs need to be replaced for some € 10 to 20,000 .- each.
The people of Noonan Road have complained to their councillors since decades.And nothing structural was done.ALL responsible councilors have been a failure concerning Noonan Rd.