Kanturk set to get 16 new council houses CONSTRUCTION IN BLUEPOOL AREA

A PROPOSAL by Cork County Council to build 16 social housing units at Bluepool in Kanturk has been given the backing of local county councillors.

Presenting the plans for the mixed development of two, three and four bed houses on council owned land at the April meeting of the Kanturk/Mallow committee, council engineer Keith Jones said they would help address the “significant demand” for social housing in the town.

He said the authority had already rubber stamped the €2.5 million development with the councillors approval the authority could move forward with a funding application for the scheme and commence the Part 8 planning process.

“There are currently 80 people on the housing list in Kanturk. These new houses, on land that had formerly been up for sale as private sites, will help address the significant demand for social housing in the town,” said Mr Jones.

He said that once the sixweek Part 8 process had been completed, the council would return to the committee for final approval to commence construction.

“The houses will be built under the Rapid Housing Construction Framework and we hope to be on site in early 2018 and the houses to be completed by the end of the year,” said Mr Jones.

He said that while the council was bound by tendering rules, the authority would endeavour to ensure the contractor appointed to the project would use local labour during construction where possible..

Welcoming the proposal Cllr Timmy Collins (Ind) said it was a “brilliant idea” given the number of applicants on the local housing list.

“Those sites have been empty for along time and I have often wondered what would become of them. I am delighted this project is moving forward and that something is finally being done there,” he added.

“Hopefully, this project will create employment in Kanturk, which is starved for jobs,” he added.

Cllr Bernard Moynihan (FF) said it was great news for the town. “These are good times for Kanturk with a new fires station, new national school and now these new houses,” he said.

While Cllr Gerard Murphy (FG) said that any new social housing in the town was welcome, there were other schemes locally that were just as important to progress.

He said these included the restoration of existing houses and leasing them to tenants and identifying derelict sites that could be turned around to “get families living back in the centre of the town.”

“While I welcome the new houses, these schemes must be given priority as the revitalisation of smaller rural towns and villages is equally important,” said Cllr Murphy.

“I would not like it for us to think that we have our job done just because we are building new houses,” he added.