Residents in estate on Cork's northside call on council to address outlying maintenance issues 

RESIDENTS of a housing estate on the northside of Cork city are calling for Cork City Council to address outlying maintenance issues in their homes.

The Cork City Council Housing Directorate met some of the residents of Fairfield Meadows in Fairhill on Thursday to hear their concerns and observe some of the maintenance issues that need addressing.

It comes following years of concerns about the living conditions of some residents being raised by local councillors and a gathering of some residents at the entrance to the estate last month, calling on Cork City Council to step up and carry out required maintenance works on their homes.

In 2018, €1.1m in funding for repairs to homes in Fairfield Meadows and Fairfield Lawn was secured as part of an €11m loan-funded scheme which saw 1,200 local authority homes in Cork city earmarked for repairs or upgrades.

Outlying issues 

Residents have said, however, that there are still outlying issues with some of the houses, which have led to rat infestations, dampness and mould, leaks, and blocked drains.

One resident raised concerns about flooding in her house, saying her house is “destroyed” in heavy rainfall and that she has to use cardboard and towels to try to prevent flood water from coming in through the front and back doors.

Following a walk-around of some of the houses in the estate with the Cork City Council Housing Directorate on Thursday, Director of Housing Niall Ó Donnabháin committed to issue an update to ward members.

Speaking to The Echo, Socialist Party councillor Brian McCarthy said: “Some of these people have issues with sewage coming into their houses and there are issues with damp, mould, plumbing, with leaks — there’s a huge list.

“They’ve been getting onto the council about this... I’m confident that now that the residents have come together to fight collectively on this issue as one voice, it will put enough pressure on the council that we will be able to get the repairs done that are needed to be done here.”

Estate 'a concern for some time'

Fianna Fáil councillor Tony Fitzgerald said the estate has “been a concern for some time” and that the residents have endured a lot of challenges in terms of dampness in the houses.

“It’s a relatively new estate,” he said. “Funding has been secured, when I was Lord Mayor we did provide an €11m loan and this estate was included in that, to renovate it.

“So work has been ongoing but it needs high priority. I am delighted that the Director of Services Niall Ó Donnabháin and his team have taken the time to come up here following requests from all of the public reps and we will work together in the North West Ward to address the issues for the families.”

Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent, who has a motion being put forward at Cork City Council asking that the local authority ringfence any funding remaining from the €1.1m allocated to Fairfield Meadows and Fairfield Lawn for housing maintenance, said: “It was good that they had senior members of the housing directorate here today [Thursday] to meet with residents and discuss with them housing maintenance issues.

“The motion that I’ve put forward to City Council now is saying if there is any funding left over out of that €1.1m, that it would be ringfenced for housing purposes within the estate and perhaps as well maybe for public realm improvements if required also.”

Councillor Kenneth Collins said that it is “unfortunate” that the allocated funding “still hasn’t fixed what needs to be done”.

“People deserve to live in better, warmer homes and that they don’t have to be ringing Cork City Council all the time to get the repairs and maintenance crews out to fix things all the time,” he said. “The people living there are the salt of the earth and all they want is to live in proper homes that are habitable for people.”