Over €700k to be spent on Westbury improvements after council reaches deal
Improvements: Westbury is being taken in charge by Clare County Council
OVER €700,000 will be spent on improvements at one of the city’s biggest housing estates after Clare County Council confirmed it had completed negotiations with bondholders to take in charge Westbury estate.
Officials had been locked in talks with insurance companies over calling in bonds relating to the estate’s main developers McInerney Homes and Chieftain Construction, which are in receivership and liquidation respectively.
A statement from the council this week confirmed it was taking “responsibility for water services, including all pumping stations, with effect from January 21 with the remaining services such as open spaces and roads being taken in charge on an interim basis pending completion of the statutory taking-in-charge process”.
“The overall arrangement with the bondholder involves a payment of €715,000, which will be used to remedy defective infrastructure, particularly waste water treatment infrastructure.”
Westbury has over 900 homes but unfinished units at Bruachlan and Grianan are not going to be completed by the Council which said these properties were “not subject to the taking in charge process” and relate to a separate receivership.
Welcoming the completion of negotiations, Mayor of Clare Pat Daly commented: “This is a very significant residential area with some 10 kilometres of roadway and other services ultimately coming under the control of the Council”.
Area engineer Hugh McGrath said that the full transfer of responsibility for Westbury could take a number of years.
A priority list of works was being drawn up with the first task to remedy “serious deficiencies in the water services infrastructure”.
“The council will need over a period of time to plan, schedule and fund other works on the development. These will however, be contingent on further funding becoming available from other sources in the future,” Mr McGrath said.
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Thursday 23 May 2013
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