GURTEEN ESTATE PLEA
GURTEEN RESIDENTS LEFT WAITING FOR REPAIRS FEEL IGNORED BY SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL.
RESIDENTS of a Gurteen housing estate have been left frustrated after they have been left waiting for Sligo County Council to carry out repair work to a number of homes.
An overflowing drain in Rathmadder, a council owned estate, has caused a number of problems for people living there, with residents critical of the council, who they claim are slow to fix any issues in the area.
One resident, who has lived in Rathmadder for ten years, says his cistern flooded his house earlier last year, and the floor lifted. The foam underneath the wooden floor was soaked and is now rotting causing an horrendous smell to take over his living area.
That, in turn, is affecting his chest which is ready bad.
He also has problems with his shower during the summer, which he feels is caused by the sewerage not being looked after.
“There is an awful smell from the sewerage in the shower sometimes. You come out of the shower smelling worse than when you went in,” he told The Sligo Champion.
“Three housing estates are using the same sewerage system and that gets blocked up,” he added.
His back garden is flooded as a result of the flooded drain, an issue that he claims has not been fixed by Sligo County Council despite numerous complaints and reports being sent their way. Just a couple of houses away, an 81-year-old woman says she went out to her back garden and tried to clear the flooding herself when it started.
“I went out and used rods to try and clear the blockage myself. The drain has flooded and all the back gardens are flooded.
“I usually have sunflowers out the back but now I can’t walk through it. The drain needs to be taken care of.
“When there’s heavy rain it’s like there’s a river running down each side of the road in the estate. The back garden right now is very wet and that can cause rats,” she told The Sligo Champion.
One resident was waiting for some time for glass to be repaired in his front door, although he is satisfied that that particular issue is dealt with.
Other issues affecting residents include heating, radiators, drafts in windows and doors. But the residents of Rathmadder in Gurteen accept that some issues seem relatively minor, but it is the time taken to fix issues that is a concern to them, and they feel as though they are being ignored.
“It’s 2018 and people here are living in despair - why are we being treated like this? We feel like the forgotten people out here in Gurteen,” said Korena O’Hara, a Gurteen resident who has seen first hand the issues affecting residents in Rathmadder. I’ve made many complaints to the council and one man had Cllr. Paul Taylor and Eamon Scanlon TD here to see it all for themselves. He had forms filled for the doctor, they were sent into the council but nothing was done,” she added.
“When I got on to the council again they said the only correspondence they had about Rathmadder was on December 13th which was my complaint - what about the others before that?
“It’s all false promises. Nothing is being done for people here,” she added.
In the meantime, locals in Gurteen have been left confused after work was carried out at the crossroads in the town. A section of the footpath has been widened on the Tubbercury Road at the Coleman Music Centre so that the view of the road is no longer blocked by parked cars.
But, the narrowing of the road has made it dangerous for truck drivers who are coming from Tubbercurry and are trying to get on to the Ballymote Road.
“There’s been a lot of near misses. People going back to the village then from Christie’s can’t do a u-turn anymore and end up having to do a 3/4 point turn which ends up being dangerous and backs up traffic.
“It’s a waste of funds, if you ask me,” added Korena.
Sligo County Council was contacted for comment but had not issued a response at the time of publication.