No finishing time in sight for special needs homes
Date Published: {J}
By Denise McNamara
Three houses being purpose-built for people with special needs will remain unfinished for a second year after the builder went bust.Two houses at Greenview Heights in Newcastle and another house in Coole Park in Bohermore have been left half-built with work stalled for the last 12 months.
Galway City Council confirmed this week that the three properties will not be completed any time soon after the developer went out of business.The tender process mus
t now begin again in order to complete the building, according to a spokesman.
“For now we will be leaving the houses incomplete, which is unfortunate because they have been allocated as they are being built for families or people with disabilities,” he said.
“These people are being housed by us in other accommodation. Unfortunately we have to go back to the procurement process to find another developer which is a cumbersome process, but we have to do in the interests of fairness.”
“We’re hoping for a resolution by the end of this year,” he added.Cllr Padraig Conneely accused local authority officials of total inaction for the last year. The houses had been allocated to needy families for the past three years.
“Galway City Council housing department has sat on their hands for the past year and their failure to secure a new contracted agreement to complete the unfinished houses is an indictment of Galway City Council’s housing programme and their failure to complete these houses for deserving families is to be condemned,” he stated.