Roads, footpaths, and public areas in five New Ross estates to be maintained by council

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Residents in five New Ross estates can look forward to having improved footpaths, roads, lighting, and wastewater services after the local council confirmed it is in the process of taking these areas “in charge”. When the council takes an estate in charge it assumes responsibility for public areas in a private residential estate and becomes liable for the maintenance of these areas.

And although there are currently 20 estates in the New Ross district waiting to be taken in charge by the council, senior planner Tom Banville has confirmed that his department is focusing on five of those this year.

They are Bellevue (7 houses), Cois Cuan (25 houses), Farrin Carrig (14 houses), Moyle Valley (11 houses), and Parkfields (52 houses). In addition, phase one of the newly built Ard na Bhile estate was taken in charge last month with phase two to follow shortly.

Mr Banville was delivering this update at the February meeting of the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD) where councillors immediately queried the methodology being used.

“The priority seems to be upside-down,” said Councillor Michael Sheehan, “I thought the older estates would be done first, it seems we are going after the low-lying fruit. Ard na Bhile is still being snagged (the process where an estate is inspected for defects or incomplete works) so taking it in charge is no big deal.”

Cllr Bridín Murphy who, like her colleagues, is frequently the recipient of irate calls from residents desperate to see the roads and footpaths in their estates repaired, agreed with Cllr Sheehan.

“The older estates should be the priority, it would be helpful if we could at least give residents a timeline for each estate,” she said.

Explaining that Wexford County Council (WCC) had to deal with developers and Uisce Éireann each time it proposed to take over an estate, Mr Banville said that, as a result, it was difficult to provide a timeline but that he expected the five estates listed to be completed this year.

“The long-term legacy estates are challenging,” he explained, “some of them don’t have bonds (provided by the builders) or haven’t received funding. Most of them have issues which need to be addressed. The new ones are the low-hanging fruit, it's a quick process.”

Cathaoirleach John Dwyer identified what he regarded as an obvious flaw in the system.

“The older estates, some of which were built 40 years ago, are at the bottom of the list because of the potential expense,” he said. “We should be writing to the housing minister to make him aware of that.”

In addition to the five estates prioritised for 2026, Mr Banville provided an additional list of estates which would be next in line to be taken in charge. They were Beach View in Duncannon, Fairfields View, Longstone Drive, Millhouse, Somer’s Way, and Stonebrook.

One estate not featured on any list was Ban na Cheilie, much to the annoyance of Cllr John Fleming.

“Why has the list been changed?” he asked referring to one of Mr Banville’s previous presentations.

“That estate is still on our list, it’s just not at the top of our priorities,” came the reply.

“It’s nowhere, then, will it ever be taken in charge?”

“Yes, it will be if funding is provided.”