Social housing scheme in growing Limerick suburb cut in size

COUNCIL planners have been instructed to reduce the height of a planned social housing development in Raheen.

At this month’s meeting of the Metropolitan District, councillors ignored the advice of officials who warned that reducing the height may make the scheme financially unviable.

The planned complex was put before the elected members for consideration as the project is earmarked for public land.

Following more than an hour of discussion on the development, at Ballycummin Road, councillors voted by a majority to amend the design of the complex - from 20 housing units down to 15 and from five floors down to three.

READ MORE: Calling all newly engaged couples!

Prior to the vote, Conor Cooney, a senior quantity surveyor with council, warned: “I’ll be very clear: if you drop it to three floors, you are down five units. It is uneconomical and will not work.”

The caution was echoed by outgoing housing director Caroline Curley, who said: “While we will go away and try to comply with your wishes, there is a reality to life that we may not be able to do this.”

Mayor John Moran added: “The Department (of Housing) might decide it is not viable.”

But Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney hit back giving examples of other housing projects which have gone ahead with a cut in units - despite similar warnings from council bosses.

“It’s on the executive to make this work. I have great confidence in them to make it work. We’ve already got the advice in the past that things could not be done, but under your leadership they have,” he said.

He seconded an amendment, proposed by Cllr Daniel Butler, to change the make-up of the apartment complex.

Cllr Butler added: “We believe the current proposal in terms of its height and scale is too high. Our job as councillors is to represent the views of the public and find a compromise at times.

Labour councillor Joe Leddin urged his colleagues to vote in favour of the original plan.

“The Government wants us to maximise density - and rightly so - on lands we have. We are not talking about the Taj Mahal here. It’s a five-storey building.

Mayor Moran said there are four and five storey buildings across Georgian Limerick, and people don’t consider it “shocking”.

“I think there is an understanding that it is essential we build houses in Limerick for people, and this comes at a cost to us all,” said the mayor, whose report on the development formally recommended its approval.

Independent councillor Maria Donoghue disagreed, saying: “It's much faster to refurbish housing than build new.”

She said a five-storey building would “set a precedent” in an area where most homes are twoand three storeys in height.

Both Mayor Moran and Cllr Leddin pointed to taller nearby buildings, including the Eli Lilly development and University Hospital Limerick’s new 96-bed unit.

Cllr Elisa O'Donovan, Social Democrats cited habitat directives, capacity issues in Raheen, and the issue of a natural heritage area in the vicinity.

She claimed the local authority had done "the bare minimum" in terms of consultation with residents.