Tenants protest over 'eviction' ahead of redevelopment
Eviction orders are to be issued against a number of householders in Tuam who are steadfastly refusing to move out of a Council estate which is set for an €8 million facelift.
It is understood that the residents, who are all Council tenants, are unhappy with the alternative accommodation that the local authority is providing for them and want more spacious dwellings.
Galway County Council’s plans to regenerate Gilmartin Road in Tuam involve the demolition of around 30 existing dwellings and the development of 40 houses in their place.
The estate has been mainly occupied by members of the Travelling community over the years who are now being relocated to other estates around but there are some who are ‘digging their heels in’.
It is the intention of Galway County Council to create a ‘new estate’ in which new two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses will be provided that will accommodate young couples, single occupants or small families in the town.
Cllr Donagh Killilea said that it was a move in the right direction in that it would change the whole fabric of Gilmartin Road and would create a totally new environment of young families to enjoy.
“I know that Galway County Council are dealing with a number of families who are refusing to leave and have presented various demands on the local authority that that cannot be accommodated.
“But hopefully these issues can be resolved or else the Council will be left with no option but to seek eviction orders as this development has to take place. The money for this regeneration is available”, Cllr Killilea added.
It is understood that the contract for the regeneration works cannot be signed off unless the street is vacated. Works are expected to commence by mid-October and will be completed within 16 months.
Tender documents were issued for the €8 million redevelopment of the mainly Council estate and it attracted a lot of interest from a number of local builders who have experienced the building slump in recent years and are anxious to win some major projects.
With very little building going on in the county’s rural towns at the moment, it is little wonder that some of the more established building contractors are anxious to successfully negotiate this particular housing project.
When completed, it will result in a complete transformation of Gilmartin Road with the construction of 40 new houses and the refurbishment of more than 20 others as part of the biggest development ever to take place since the estate was built in the 1950s.
The proposed redevelopment involves the demolition of 30 existing houses on Gilmartin Road and the construction of 40 new houses, consisting of two and three bedroom homes, along with the demolition of a house on Cloonthue Road and the landscaping of the whole area.
This means that many of the existing tenants will be relocated elsewhere in the town and that has created its own difficulties.
Some have refused to move unless they get accommodation that meets their requirements. This is despite the fact that they are local authority tenants.
If the tenants in Gilmartin Road in Tuam refuse to move, then they will be faced with eviction orders which have to be processed through the courts, which do not reconvene until September.