Planning approved for housing development in south Mayo as surge in delivery continues
Housing across south Mayo has received a significant boost in recent days, with multiple projects officially opened and construction now underway on several more sites.
Last Friday saw fourteen new homes officially opened in Claremorris and Cross West, while the sod was turned on six sites in Ballyhaunis and Ballinrobe, where a further 42 units are now being built.
Adding to this momentum of housing delivery, at this week’s meeting of the Claremorris and Swinford Municipal District, councillors approved a Part Eight for four new social homes at Riverside Close in Kilmaine.
The development will consist of two, two-bedroom two-storey houses and two, three-bedroom two-storey houses, along with footpaths, parking, boundary works, a landscaped green area, lighting, utilities and all associated site works.
Cllr Damien Ryan welcomed the approval of the Kilmaine development and highlighted the recent openings on Mount Street in Claremorris and at Cross West, saying they demonstrated the council’s commitment to housing.
“We are moving ahead with our housing programme, and we are moving ahead in an aggressive way,
“To say that Mayo County Council is doing nothing about housing, well - now the actions speak for themselves,” he said.
Cllr Michael Burke echoed these remarks and said the area had seen some “great developments” over the past 18 months and pointed to upcoming projects in Ballinrobe, where 14 social units will be delivered across four sites.
Cllr Patsy O’Brien said the focus on smaller villages such as Kilmaine is an “encouragement” for rural communities, as it will help to sustain the population levels and keep local schools and essential services open.
Cllr Richard Finn also praised the work of Mayo County Council’s housing section, which he said has “taken a bit of flak” over the years in relation to housing provision.
“I want to compliment the work done internally in the housing section in Mayo County Council to provide these shovel-ready projects,” he said.
Cllr Finn stated that “the money is there” for building and developing much-needed housing in the county, but said it was a matter of having projects shovel-ready.
He said there is “serious understaffing” in the housing section of Mayo County Council and called on the Government to bring extra staff into housing sections within local authorities.
“There are lots more projects that could be brought to a shovel-ready stage if we had the amount of staff that is required to do it. It is holding back our progress in housing,” he said.
Noting that these units were going toward much-needed social housing, Cllr Finn also said that private developments have seen a “slow down”.
He added that projects being put to Mayo County Council’s planning department “should be fast-tracked rather than going through rigorous processes for private developers wanting to develop housing.”
In addition to the Part Eight approval for the Kilmaine development, a second Part Eight was granted for five social housing units at Irishtown in Claremorris during the meeting, bringing a total of nine new units to Mayo County Council’s housing stock.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.