Ballyhooly’s sheltered housing - A GREAT COMMUNITY SUCCESS
Ballyhooly Sheltered Housing Ltd has provided independent comfortable accommodation for older people from the area in their 8 house complex in An Cuan for the past 12 years.
An Cuan is situated in a quiet area off the Rahard Rd, a few hundred metres from the village. Each house consists of a sun lounge / entrance hall, kitchen / living room, two double bedrooms and a bathroom. The complex has been fully occupied since it was opened in 2010 and we maintain a waiting list of prospective residents. We are blessed with residents who take great pride in their houses, so managing the complex has been an easy job over the years.
Planning the complex began in January 2006 when a small group of interested people met in Ballyhooly Community Hall to discuss the possibility. A committee was set up and with Tom Collier as chairman, Mary McCarthy as secretary and Andy Shinnick as treasurer, this group got the project off the ground, liaised with the various agencies and applied for all the available grants.
Local engineer John McCarthy drew up the plans and Ned Rice from Fermoy was the builder and our eight houses were officially opened by Dr Tom Cavanagh on 11th June, 2010.
Since 2010 some people have left the committee and some have passed on to their eternal reward. All are fondly remembered for their valuable contribution to a great community project. In the meantime we have recruited ‘some new blood’ and have had a number of changes of officers and directors.
GREAT SUPPORT
Running a complex like An Cuan has been a learning process for everyone involved and we have been helped along the way by various agencies and people. We are members of The Irish Council for Social Housing and we regularly avail of their services. Cork Co Council never let us down when called upon.
The area is fully landscaped, thanks initially to funding via Dr Tom Cavanagh, and until last year one of the residents in An Cuan, John Ryan and his wife Eily, kept lawns, shrubs etc in pristine condition. Time caught up on John however and now Brendan McCarthy from Avondhu Blackwater is carrying out this maintenance work.
We are very lucky to have excellent local contractors available for any maintenance required and they have a great relationship with the residents. This is very important and was especially useful during the Covid crisis of the past few years.
The people of Ballyhooly have of course been of enormous help and their encouragement has been an inspiration to all of us over the years. The properties are inspected annually and any deficiencies rectified. We have made many necessary improvements to the properties over the years: a storage shed was erected; CCTV has been installed; outside walls and attics in all the properties have been further insulated; and a Marian grotto was erected.
Last year we also did a professional Stock Condition Survey of the buildings to help us plan future investment.
At present because of increasing energy costs, we are investigating the possibility of replacing our oil fired boilers with an air to water heat pump system. All sheltered housing associations like ours are facing increased administration work over the years.
We have governance requirements as a charitable organisation and an approved housing body and we are also registered with the Residential Tenancy Board and of course have had to write up a safety statement. Thankfully, due to pooling the resources of our committee, we are up to date with all these requirements.
AGM - MAY 25TH
Our AGM will be held in Ballyhooly Community Hall on Wednesday, 25th May at 8pm. We would love to see new members come along and join our committee. The work is interesting and rewarding and thankfully, you will not be required to fundraise as prudent cash management has made us self-sufficient.