Sewerage dispute sees new flats on Cork's northside stay vacant

A dispute over sewerage has resulted in three newly refurbished apartments remaining empty, a northside landlord has claimed.

Aaron O’Connell is the owner of the former O’Connell’s grocery store at 77 Churchfield Avenue.

The property, which had belonged to Mr O’Connell’s father, Patrick, had fallen into disrepair prior to the death of Patrick O’Connell in 2020, and has been on Cork City Council’s derelict sites register since February 2022.

Obtaining an SI75 planning exemption in March of last year, Mr O’Connell completely renovated the property, with that work now completed.

The property consists of three apartments, two one-bedroom, and one two-bedroom, each with their own front and rear access, and off-street parking.

Mr O’Connell said he is unable to let the three apartments because of recurring blocked drains and a dispute between Mr O’Connell, Uisce Éireann, and Cork City Council.

“The public drains cutting though the side of the property are blocking up every week or two, with sewage from the 22 houses it’s servicing in Churchfield Square backing up to two of the back doors,” he said.

Mr O’Connell contends that the issue relates to the public drains, but Uisce Éireann, the public body with statutory responsibility for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services, says it is Mr O’Connell’s responsibility.

Last summer, Mr O’Connell commissioned two private firms, a drainage specialist, and an engineer, to separately survey the drains.

Those reports, seen by The Echo, found the public drains were in a “deteriorated state”, with “a build-up of obstacles under the main road, which is 14m outside the property”.

Mr O’Connell said that in the past two years, Uisce Éireann has carried out at least 12 investigations of the drainage pipes running through his property.

“In early December, I furnished them with the reports, and they’ve visited to unblock on several occasions since, only for the blockage to occur again in a matter of days.

“They’ll come out and clear the sewage and refer the matter to the housing department of the city council,” he said.

Mr O’Connell claimed that neither Uisce Éireann nor Cork City Council was interested in replacing the sewerage pipes or clearing the blockage underneath the public road.

“Both parties are saying it’s the responsibility of the other and, in the meantime, the property lies vacant. This is particularly annoying in a time of housing shortages.

“I’ve worked extremely hard and spent €380,000 getting the property to an exceptional standard,” Mr O’Connell said.

He said he currently had potential tenants ready to move in, but could not allow them in with recurring sewerage blockages posing a serious health risk.

A Cork City Council spokesperson said: “Uisce Éireann [is] responsible for the delivery of waste water services in Cork city. As such related queries should be directed to Uisce Éireann.”

An Uisce Éireann spokesperson said: “After extensive investigations at the location cited, it found that the blockage is not within the public sewer. It is therefore a private side issue and falls to the householders on the private common drain to address.”