Calls for council to prioritise social housing in Tipperary town
There have been calls for Tipperary County Council to prioritise social housing in Tipperary town, amid concerns over a lack of forward planning for council homes in the area.
At the December meeting of Tipperary County Council, Sinn Féin councillor Annemarie Ryan called on the local authority’s housing section to prioritise the building of social housing in Tipperary town.
"In Tipperary town, we have no social housing build plan or programme, we have two houses being built by the local authority at the moment, we have another 16 under contract from a developer via Clúid Approved Housing Body (AHB), and we have nothing else in the pipeline for Tipperary town,” Cllr Ryan said.
"I know we’re looking at land zoning, maybe it’ll come up under that, but can we please look at it as a priority?
"Because we have no builds for Tipperary town, and maybe when we address the land zoning issues through the variation of the local development plan we could provide for the new build scheme,” the Sinn Féin councillor said.
Acknowledging the council’s progress on building social homes across the county, Cllr Ryan said it was good to see the council building homes, but that more are needed in her area.
"As I look across the county, it’s good to see the developments, but we don’t have any in Tipperary town,” she added.
Tipperary County Council is on track to exceed their home building targets for 2025, with a goal of building 170 houses. However, the council are on track to deliver 230 homes this year.
In Tipperary town, two homes are planned for Father Matthew Street, which is currently at revised stage two approval. The project had been stalled due to the discovery of 10 medieval skeletons on the site of the new homes, which had to be carefully excavated and preserved.
Elsewhere in the town, 16 homes are set to be delivered at the newly-built Rosefield estate on the Dundrum Road, however it is not clear when these homes will be ready for their new tenants.
In response to Cllr Ryan’s call, Jonathan Cooney, the council’s director of services for housing said they would look into delivering more social homes in the west Tipperary town.
"Some of the early schemes under Rebuilding Ireland or Housing for All was actually in Tipperary town, so you had Aherlow Meadows and An Duiche, but certainly we will look at Tipperary town and we do need to acquire additional lands in the town,” Mr Cooney explained.