Ryan says anti-social behaviour getting out of hand on estates
THROWING stones at windows, egging houses, purposely kicking footballs at doors and being verbally intimidating.
These are just some of the experiences that residents in private estates around Wexford town are coming up against according to Labour election hopeful Joe Ryan.
The Labour candidate says that incidents like these have become an all too common occurrence in the housing estates of Wexford and while there are measures in place to deal with this type of behaviour in council estates, it’s something that residents in private estates are finding difficult to address.
‘While local authorities have a process in dealing with complaints of anti social behaviour for their tenants, those who are renting in the private sector involved in anti social behaviour are able to continue regardless until the issue is dealt with by the gardaí,’ he said.
Mr Ryan pointed out that last year there seemed to be a constant plume of smoke hanging in the air near his own home in Cromwellsfort Drive, as fires were being set regularly on Trespan Rocks.
‘The presence of a tenant liaison officer with Wexford County Council has the impact of dealing with anti-social behaviour before it gets out of control,’ he said. ‘By contrast, there are individuals in private estates that will exploit bona fide resolution processes to ply for time and who continue to cause havoc.’
‘Most landlords in private estates are effective at dealing with complaints about anti-social behaviour in rented tenancies,’ he added. ‘It seems that when the landlord lives a distance from the property that things can sometimes get out of hand. I’d prefer that those responsible for anti-social behaviour would desist. However under the law landlords and their tenants need to understand that anti-social behaviour is a grounds for eviction regardless of whether it is a private or publicly owned home. Neighbours of those involved in anti social behaviour often are the ones who suffer silently simply as they are concerned at the impact on property values of highlighting intimidation or vandalism.’
By way of a solution, Mr Ryan is appealing to the Department of Housing and PRTB to look at streamlining the mechanism by which private owner occupiers can have recourse to a resolution in cases involving anti-social behaviour.