Baltinglass top of the list

BALTINGLASS is the first priority for Wicklow County Council when it comes to local authority housing.

At last week’s meeting of Wicklow County Council the members were briefed on the council’s three-year capital budget plan for 2017 to 2019.

Director of services Joe Lane said there were a number of projects in the pipeline for the county and said that the council had looked at need and demand, establishing that Bray has the most need and demand.

This is followed by Wicklow, Greystones, Arklow and Baltinglass. However, he said that Baltinglass didn’t receive any housing in the last plan and as such the council had earmarked the area for the first tranche of housing.

He said the new priority for the council is Baltinglass, Bray, Wicklow, Greystones, Arklow and finishing off in Bray.

Cllr Joe Behan said that young people on the hous- ing list and those trying to get on the property ladder were finding it very difficult to get a roof over their head.

He said: ‘ There’s just not enough supply. We have a duty of care to try to do something.

‘Instead of the Government giving subsidies to private landlords they should be giving money to the local authority to build houses. We are heading for, if we aren’t already in one, another property bubble, just 10 years after the last.’