FERMOY ESTATE PROBLEMS ADDRESSED AT RESIDENTS MEETING
Numerous concerns were addressed regarding problems in a Fermoy housing estate at a well attended meeting of the Baile Ard Residents’ Association last week.
Chairperson, Timmy Flynn opened the meeting by speaking about the current issues of concern in the estate, first and foremost the ongoing water problems and added that a delegation was to attend the Northern committee meeting in Mitchelstown to highlight the various problems.
Other issues in the estate include poor insulation, problems in relation to the entrance, rubbish dumping, and anti social behaviour.
THE ENTRANCE
One resident’s mum had her car badly damaged last summer, when she pulled out of the estate and a car came flying down the hill. PRO, Joe Tobin claimed that the hedge is a ‘death trap’ and that between the hours of 7 and 9 in the morning the speed is ‘savage’.
He added that gardai should look at the entrance for safety reasons before a serious accident happens and someone is badly injured. Garda Breda O’Sullivan, who attended the meeting, suggested ramps or calming measures of some sort and that the council should be contacted to come and have a look.
Joe Tobin suggested getting a petition signed so something will have to be done.
WATER PROBLEMS
The residents agreed that addressing and sorting the water issue is a priority this year.
“We don’t want the place to be dug up at Christmas. It is beyond a joke with freezing temperatures and pipes appearing above the ground in some drives,” Timmy Flynn commented.
“There is definitely four to five months work involved and it needs to start sooner rather than later. We were the first to lose water and last to get it back. Without Noel McCarthy we would have had no water at all and the council, as landlords, were a disgrace.”
“16 days without water is unacceptable,” Joe Tobin pointed out.
“People power is the only thing to shift them. Outside the courthouse is the next place to be standing. They are fast to drop a red letter in the letterbox if rent is late, yet we have 2 years in a row with no water and we are still waiting. We don’t want progress reports, we want action,” Mr Tobin added.
€15,000 FOR STOPCOCKS
A delegation of residents from Baile Ard that attended Tuesday’s meeting of the Northern committee of Cork County Council in Mitchelstown was told that it would cost €15,000 to just replace the stop cocks in that one estate alone.
Officials, who were appreciative of the residents concerns, confirmed that a county wide survey on the state of stopcocks was to be undertaken.
Cork County Council officials, under pressure from councillors present at the meeting, pledged to deal with the Baile Ard issue as soon as possible but indicated that lack of funding was a major problem
RUBBISH DUMPING
The meeting heard that bags of rubbish are continually being dumped behind the big tree just inside the entrance to the estate.
“We are very active on litter and have prosecuted. We all have to pay for household rubbish. If you know who is dumping it you need to do something and report it. We should be out there and vigilant,” Joe Tobin said.
Tony McDonagh was commended for all his work and it was agreed that he is a big loss in the area.
TIDY TOWNS
The meeting also heard of a group of four to five ladies that live in the Baile Ard estate who work in co operation with Fermoy Tidy Towns committee in an effort to further improve the area.
A meeting was held recently with some of the members to discuss ideas on how to improve the estate. The chairman of Fermoy Tidy Towns, Cllr Noel McCarthy, along with secretary, Christy Roche, recently visited the estate and met with chairman Timmy Flynn, PRO Joe Tobin and several residents.
“We walked around the estate and the residents showed us their concerns and told of how they want to improve the area. I will be contacting Cork County Council to look at getting kerbing replaced, and there are a number of health and safety issues including the entrance, which is dangerous.
"We are very grateful to all of the residents for their efforts and eagerness to improve where they live and the standard is definitely going in the right direction” Cllr McCarthy The Avondhu.
ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Antisocial behaviour and underage drinking is becoming an issue in the Baile Ard estate with some residents claiming that had seen children drinking at all hours of the morning
This is happening in the same three or four houses all the time, and is down to lack of control from parents. One resident said that this generally happens after 11pm at night until 4am in the morning with doors banging and shouting.
“I have rang the gardai numerous times, there is no point in going out to them as all I get is abuse.”
Garda O’Sullivan was asked what the procedure was and what should people do in these cases.
“Residents have to ring the gardai and report it to the council. A lot of the time people will ring but they won’t make a statement, so our hands are then tied,” Garda O’Sullivan responded.
Outside of the issues outlined, residents agreed that the estate was a very nice place to live. People generally get on very well with their neighbours and want to work together to ensure the water problem is resolved sooner rather than later and the entrance is made safe.
The Baile Ard Residents committee is made up of Timmy Flynn chairman, Michael Higgins, secretary, Ross McCarthy, treasurer and Joe Tobin, PRO. The next meeting of the association will take place on Wednesday, March 23 at 8pm at the Resource Centre.
Published:
Thursday 10th March 5:26pm
