Laytown tenants cannot heat their homes, cllrs told

Councillors" anger spilled over at a meeting of the Slane Electoral Area Council of Meath County Council last week when they heard that householders in a Laytown housing estate had no means of heating their homes because of the removal of fireplace back boilers during a changeover to a gas supply. One councillor compared the situation at Alverno Heights and Alverno Court as being like 'Fawlty Towers" and there were demands for the council to take action. The installation of gas supplies and the replacement of doors and windows is part of a council regeneration scheme. The issue was raised by Green Party Cllr Tom Kelly who said that back boilers were removed in houses undergoing the transformation to gas heating and people had been left without any means of heating their homes. 'The situation for these people is now worse than ever in the middle of winter,' he said, maintaining that there was a dispute over the installation between Meath County Council and An Bord Gais. Fine Gael Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher said: 'It"s like 'Fawlty Towers". How did this come about?' She said it was time for action, especially as it was only a few weeks to Christmas. Independent Cllr Jimmy Cudden said that the contractors were doing 10 houses at a time. The problem lay in the fact that the residents in the 10th house had to wait for the first house to be completed before they got heating supplies. Fianna Fail Cllr Pat Boshell said that as each house was completed, the gas supply should be commissioned immediately. Cllr Kelly commented this was an emergency. 'The council needs to get out there and get the work done,' he said. Area Manager Tadhg McDonnell said that councillors would be given an update on the situation during this week. The area council also heard that there were 370 applicants for council housing in the Slane Electoral Area. Cllr Cudden said that 'it is the most depressing figure I have heard for a long time'. The situation was that the council only had 11 houses to hand out. There were no housing starts planned for 2009 and none in 2010. 'People are in despair over this. The vast majority of people on that list need housing. You could almost declare a state of emergency in housing in the Slane Electoral Area,' he claimed. Cllr Dillon Gallagher singled out Slane as an area which had seen no new council houses for 12 or 13 years. Cllr Cudden said: 'Unless you can perform the miracle of the loaves and the fishes here, there is no hope. There are some unfortunate young people living in serious conditions and there is no hope for them.'