Residents in plea to make safe their 'deathtrap' development

Angry residents of the Maudlin Vale housing estate in Trim have voiceed their anger at the dangers of living on their unfinished "deathtrap" estate. They told this week of "nightmare" surroundings like exposed ESB cables, 10-feet deep holes in the ground, 30-foot high topsoil mounds, protruding manholes, open drains, derelict prefabs, builders' rubbish, rusted wire fences and even rats in the estate just off the Trim ring road. The houses were constructed by Baltra Developments Ltd, a firm owned by Kildare-based builder Gerry Skelly. Permission had been granted for 110 houses but only around 45 were built by the time the recession hit and it left the remainder of the site abandoned. Some of the houses, which were averaging prices of around €300,000 at the height of the boom, are now worth just over €100,000 - one selling recently for that amount was originally valued at €325,000. Gerry Skelly was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press and calls to Baltra Developments on a Mullingar number were unanswered. Meath County Council said it is unable to comment on the Maudlin Vale estate for legal reasons as the estate is subject of a planning enforcement order.