BOROUGH COUNCILLORS OPPOSE SALE OF SITE BY COUNTY COUNCIL
WEXFORD councillors have vowed to oppose the local authority sale of 1.4 acres of public land at the rear of Redmond Park which they want kept for social house building.
A DNG ‘for sale’ sign went up last week on the Council-owned field which is situated between Redmond Park and Parklands housing estate.
Members of Wexford Borough District Council which owns the land were not consulted on the sale and agreed unanimously to oppose it at a monthly meeting yesterday (Monday) afternoon.
District Manager Angela Laffan told Cllr. Deirdre Wadding that a decision was made at County Council executive and director level to place the site for sale on the open market.
She said there were two options - to place it for sale on the open market or to build social housing on it.
Cllr. George Lawlor said he is ‘absolutely opposed’ to the sale and was supported in his view by other councillors who expressed dissatisfaction that they were not consulted before the decision to sell was taken.
‘Here we have a perfect parcel of land on which to build houses for the elderly or the disabled in order to free up social housing in other areas of the town. It is right beside a public park but we will now have no control over what goes there,’ said Cllr. Lawlor.
‘I propose that we oppose the sale of this land. Under section 183 of the Local Government Act, the approval of the members is required by vote before the land can be disposed of. I will be asking the members to join me in voting against it,’ he said.
Cllr. Wadding said she could not agree enough with the stand taken by Cllr. Lawlor.
Cllr. Ger Carthy said there are 4,500 people on the Council housing list, the Council is actively searching for land for housing and Wexford town is one of the areas of highest demand.
‘And yet here we are are selling 1.4 acres in the middle of town. Has the executive function gone too far. This should have come before the Council. The executive has made a decision to dispose of this land and we have no control over it,’ he said.
Cllr. Lawlor told his fellow councillors that ‘we have absolute power in this regard’.
‘Any land owned by the local authority cannot be disposed of without the approval of the members. Consultation should have taken place with the Wexford District Borough.’
It was unanimously agreed that a letter be sent immediately to the Director of Housing John Carley, outlining Wexford district councillors’ opposition to the sale.
Up to Monday, DNG auctioneers had no guide price on the site as they are awaiting information on whether the property is for sale with or without planning permission.