Wexford residents paying ‘extortionate fees’ to management company for ‘very little work’ claims councillor

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Residents in a Wexford town estate are paying “extortionate fees” to a management company for “very little work” according to Sinn Fein councillor Tom Forde. Speaking following confirmation that Clonard Village is to be ‘taken in charge’ by Wexford County Council (WCC), Cllr Forde said those living in the estate had been struck with “bills, sometimes in the thousands” by the company.

“The management company there is charging an extortionate fee to the residents for very little work, it does a bit of grass cutting and leaves everything else by the wayside,” he said at the February meeting of the Wexford Borough District. “The residents have tried to get out from under this company and have been struck with bills, sometimes in the thousands.”

When an estate is taken in charge by the council it assumes responsibility for the maintenance of roads, footpaths, public lighting, and, in some instances, drainage in a residential estate.

And this year, Clonard Village is one of five estates in the Wexford town area which the council intends to take in charge. It will be joined by Priory Hall, The Estuary, Whiterock Heights, and Rectory Hall in Castlebridge. While there are funds of over €400,000 available to carry out works at Clonard Village, and funds of €100,000 for works at Whiterock Heights, the other estates will require additional funding either from central government, Uisce Éireann, or the council’s own resources.

On the issue of the management company at Clonard Village and whether it would be relieved of its duties when WCC takes the estate in charge, senior planner Tom Banville said this depended on a number of factors.

“Management companies don’t have to be dissolved after we take an estate in charge,” he said. “There may be a reason why they still operate, there could be common or open areas (in the estate) which haven’t been taken in charge (by us), and there may be a requirement for a management company to stay in existence to maintain those.

"If it does dissolve, residents usually create an association and carry out any works which the council doesn’t take responsibility for. Our taken in charge policy is that we maintain the roads, footpaths, and public lighting; open spaces or green areas are generally maintained by residents association or a management company.”

While residents in the aforementioned estates will no doubt be glad to see their areas maintained on a regular basis, Mr Banville revealed that this mean an additional expense on district engineer Lar Lett, a man who is already trying to carry out road repairs on a limited budget. This led Cllr Biddy Walsh to query whether an overhaul of the system was required.

“This has to be reviewed by government, our engineer shouldn’t have to take on an additional burden,” she said. “In the previous model, residents who bought a house in an estate had to enter into an agreement with a management company whether they liked it or not, there was no such thing as taken in charge. Now we’re trying to claw back on that.”

However, any hope of amending the current system was dismissed by Mr Banville who informed the councillor that the policy had only been updated in 2024.