Increased spending on land for social housing welcomed

Reaction to the projected spending on capital projects was led by Fine Gael whip on the council, Cllr Gerry O’Connor, who said that while the programme was ambitious, all the projects in it were “totally realistic”.

He welcomed the plan because the projected spending was €100 million up on the previous capital programme. He particularly welcomed the allocation made for the acquisition of land for social housing. He knew that the council was going to have to borrow the money through loans but it was a very good initiative “because we do need more council houses”. What should also be welcomed was the initial funding for the start of the bypass of Dunshaughlin.

Fine Gael Cllr Joe Fox said €604 million was a “staggering amount of money”. He welcomed the programme, saying that the planned spend was up €100 million on the previous plan which ran over four years as opposed to the new projected plan running over three years. He welcomed projects in his own areas of Trim including Trim graveyard, Enfield community space and park-and-ride provision and the car park at Longwood to facilitate the greenway.

Sinn Fein Cllr Eddie Fennessy said he agreed with the executive that the programme was an ambitious one. The spend was to take place equally across the whole county. He said that €31 million was to be spent on affordable housing and he asked how many houses the executive envisaged would be built for that sum. There was also €6m allocated for retrofitting of houses and he asked what that would cover. He also enquired as to the start date for the new bridge across the Blackwater river in Navan.

Council official Barry Lynch said the amount allocated for affordable housing would amount to 108 houses out of its target of 151 that the council had to provide over a five-year period. The retrofitting would cover 145 units. Council official Martin Murray said it was hoped to go to tender on the bridge before the end of this year with a start date for construction next April.

Aontú Cllr Emer Tóibín said €1.5m had been allocated for affordable private sites for housing and she wondered whether these were serviced sites. Mr Lynch replied that the number of sites provided would depend on land values and the level of service involved.

Labour Cllr Elaine McGinty said that great progress had been made in Traveller accommodation in Meath. She said that Cllrs Adenuga, French and herself served in the Traveller Accommodation Committee. There was a spend of €1 million on Traveller accommodation in the county. “We often hear stories about how some councils are not spending money on Traveller accommodation or looking after their facilities but this is a really good success story. We know that we spend a lot of money on upgrading the facilities. I just wanted to highlight it and commend it.

Sinn Fein Cllr Aisling O’Neill asked questions about electric charging points and about the linear park in Ashbourne.

Fine Gael Cllr Sarah Reilly asked about funding for burial grounds in the Kells Municipal District and about the second part of the cycleway programme.

Fianna Fail Cllr Sean Drew said that the fact that such a high amount of money was to be spend on housing and roads showed where the council’s priorities lay. The capital programme was a fantastic one, he said, but he would also like to see a list of what has been delivered each year. He was disappointed to see that just €1.5m had been allocated to affordable housing sites.