Plan for new housing in Tipperary moves forward after council land purchase
New homes are planned for a Tipperary town following the local authority’s purchase of a 1.08-acre site.
At the December meeting of Tipperary County Council, Cashel-based Fine Gael councillor Declan Burgess welcomed the council’s decision to purchase the site on the Clonmel Road, in front of the Castlegreen estate.
"I welcome the purchase of 1.08 acres of land in Cashel, on the Clonmel Road, in front of the Castlegreen Avenue estate, it’s land that was left idle for a long time, it’s prime real estate there, so I’m looking forward to seeing Tipperary County Council move forward with a housing proposal there,” he said.
Asking for an update on plans for the site and what the proposed timeline would be, Cllr Burgess said the town has been a success in delivering housing.
"Cashel has been one of the most successful towns in terms of building housing and social housing, there’s over 100 social homes built in Cashel, with more being constructed,” Cllr Burgess said.
Responding to Cllr Burgess, senior executive engineer Robert Johnson said that the local authority were planning on building 13 homes on the site.
"We have a scheme design done at the moment, it’s just being finalised for Department of Housing approval, it’s anticipated to be 13 units on that site,” he said.
It is expected that there will be two one-beds, five two-beds, four three-beds and two four-bed homes as part of the project.
Cllr Burgess also raised the issue of ground floor bedrooms in new-build council homes, saying that Tipperary County Council should be providing facilities for all abilities.
“I just want to highlight that none of the homes [that have been delivered so far] have ground floor bedrooms. I don’t find it acceptable that we’re building houses that are not fit for every family, and there are families there that potentially have kids that have mobility issues, parents that have mobility issues and older people, and kids with disabilities, so I’m just highlighting the fact that we need that flexibility in housing schemes.
"I’m hoping and urging that this housing scheme on the Clonmel Road in Cashel will see some ground floor bedrooms,” he said.
In response, Mr Johnson said that the new scheme in Cashel would include downstairs bedrooms.
"There will be ground floor units, and any ground floor units will try to incorporate universal design, and in all new schemes we’re looking at the disability need in the area to see can we incorporate any specific designs to that end,” he said.