Nine social houses in the pipeline for Churchtown

CORK COUNTY Council has set in motion a plan to purchase and refurbish a number of vacant properties in the village of Churchtown for use as social housing.

Local county councillor John Paul O’Shea (FG) this week told The Corkman that council officials had confirmed to him that the plan was “at an advanced stage”.

“Following a recent visit to Churchtown, I contacted Cork County Council to ask if they had any plans for a number of vacant properties in the village,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“It was confirmed to me that the authority is progressing a proposal to purchase nine properties in the locality. Once refurbished, they will be advertised online through the Council’s ChoiceBased Letting (CBL) system.”

The package includes six empty ‘ turnkey’ properties in Bruhenny, which are due to come under Council ownership within the next few weeks. The remaining three properties, two in Egmont

Place and one in Radharc Na Sleibhte, will be the subject of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) under the Buy and Renew Scheme.

Cllr O’Shea said the new houses coming on stream will help gauge the demand for social housing in the Churchtown area.

“The Council has informed me that once the properties in Bruhenny have been placed on CBL, they will be informed of the true housing need in the Churchtown area. If the need dictates that there is further interest for properties in the area, the Council will proceed to look at other similar vacant houses in the village,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“Altogether this is very positive news and it means that nine houses will be refurbished and made into family homes for nine families in the North Cork area. As well as the need to build new houses there is a need to ensure that we bring currently vacant properties back into use. I will continue to work with Cork County Council to ensure that this continues to take place right across the Cork North West region,” he added.