Social Housing on Knappagh Road

THE sod should be turned on the Knappagh Road social housing project past the railway bridge in Sligo town by the end of this year.

That’s according to Director of Services for Housing Bartley Gavin. He told Councillor Chris MacManus that they’re on course to make a pre-tender submission for funding to the Department of Housing in late March and all going well, work will start in the final quarter of this year.

A proposed social housing development for 20 units at Carrowbunnaun in Strandhill however has not moved on a great deal because of what he described as “infrastructural deficits that have to be dealt with.”

It will involve widening and draining the Golf Club access road. Preparatory talks with the adjoining landowner are ongoing and the costs associated with these works are being prepared for a submission to the Department to see how they might be financed.

“I’m not sure we’ ll be successful with it,” Mr Gavin said.

Because of these extra issues, the Council has focused on other sites in their ownership that could be developed faster, such as Knappagh Road, Rosses Point Road and Collooney in particular.

Each of these three schemes, providing 57 social housing homes, are now at “detailed design stage” with the Department.

“Indeed it is likely that the Maugheraboy site may also progress ahead of Carrowbunaun,” said Mr Gavin.

Cllr MacManus said he was disappointed to hear the potential of the site at Strandhill would not be realised any time soon and he wouldn’t like to see it put on the back burner.

However he said: “I understand it’s about the delivery of units and not so much about where they’re located.”