Housing delivery in north Drogheda facing electricity and water delays
The Drogheda Independent“Growing concerns” that housing delivery in north Drogheda will be impacted by a lack of capacity in electricity and water networks have emerged.
Delays in securing connections to Irish Water services and the ESB were highlighted at the July meeting of Louth County Council, with the local authority confirming it was “aware of the energy constraint issues in north Drogheda.”
Cllr. Declan Power had raised the issue, asking the council executive if there was an update on efforts to resolve the issues around electricity supplies for the area.
He said it was his understanding that there was no capacity for new connections to the local ESB network after May of this year, and that any new transmitters would take 18 months or up to two years to install.
"We know that this is not a local problem, it appears to be a national problem as well, and it is a real worry, a real concern, as it could have an impact on our housing delivery, and could pause or even prevent any new housing applications being submitted.”
Cllr. Power asked if ESB network representatives would attend a meeting of the council to speak to the members directly.
Deputy Chief Executive, Thomas McEvoy said the Housing, Planning and Capital delivery team had met with the ESB Network.
He said the ESB had asked the national team to focus in on Drogheda. It was his understanding that the team were in Drogheda last month, and is continuing to report back to ESB Networks.
Meanwhile, Mayor of Drogheda, Cllr, Michelle Hall, told the meeting that she had been contacted by people who had bought homes in a development in the north side of Drogheda, where Irish Water connections hadn’t yet been established.
She asked the local authority if there was “any way to put pressure on Irish Water” to ensure the services are established at Beaulieu Banks.
"This does raise the question again if we do have capacity for all the houses that are being built, as this is going to be an ongoing issue over the next couple of years.”
Louth County Council’s Deputy Chief Executive David Conway said that buyers, or any property that is bought, should have confirmation from Uisce Éireann.
He said that “from time to time there will be delays” adding that the council had met with Uisce Éireann a few weeks ago, where they highlighted the “volume of approvals” that were in the system.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr. Declan Power told The Drogheda Independent that he had been contacted by developers about access to electricity supplies in the northern part of Drogheda.
"I had raised this issue before with the council, as I do have a growing concern about the capacity for future developments.”
"What I have been hearing from developers is that any applications submitted up to May this year should be fine for connection to the ESB network, but that any applications after that will have major problems.”
Cllr. Power said that with the estimated timeframe for new transmitters, between 18 months and two years, “there is the real risk that developers will decide not to submit any planning applications, as banks will want to know that you have utilities on your side, and if you don’t that is a real problem.”
“It is an issue that we really need to solve, as Louth, for the smallest county.. I think we pack the biggest punch for housing delivery, and we really want that to continue.”
He said there were added concerns the situation could impact progress on the Port Access Northern Cross Route (PANCR) which is developer led.