Progress reports were given on four area housing estates to be taken-in-charge at the recent meeting of the Fermoy local area committee of Cork County Council.

The four were Rathowen in Fermoy, Glaise na mBreac in Ballyhooly, Cluain na Rí in Clondulane and Luí na Gréine in Mitchelstown and while good progress was reported in the case of three, there was cold comfort for residents of the Mitchelstown estate.

Cork County Council's estates engineer, John Aherne, advised members that the council is moving through the taking-in-charge process in all three of the Lawton estates in Fermoy, including Rathowen. He is dealing directly with the consulting engineers acting on behalf of the developer. Forest Glen estate is the first one to be completed, he explained, and when that has been recommended for taking-in-charge, they'll move on to the other two, Rathowen and Glencullen/Ardkeane. Forest Glen will set the precedent, he said and they'd expect the remainder to be taken-in-charge in the next 12 months.

Cllr Noel McCarthy said residents are concerned about a large tree on the estate which they feel needs to be trimmed to which the engineer replied 'it would be done'. Olive Corcoran, chair of Fermoy Town Council who was sitting in on the meeting, said it was good to see developers 'doing what they're supposed to'.

A water audit is awaited in respect of Glaise na mBreac in Ballyhooly. The estates engineer said that, once the audit is received and shown to be satisfactory, he will recommend that Cork County Council take it in charge. Asked about a time frame by Cllr Frank O'Flynn, the engineer said there are no other issues with the Mitchelstown developer, Denis Myers, and there's only a couple of days work in it.

There was good news when it came to Cluain na Rí in Clondulane. Members were told that all of the houses in the 45-house estate have now been sold and the serviced sites which were undeveloped have been sold on to a local farmer and will be returned to agricultural land, so they are no longer an issue. He said he expected the estate to be taken-in-charge before Christmas.

It was a much different story though when it came to Luí na Gréine in Mitchelstown. It was described as being 'in poor condition' by the estates manager who said it poses a danger for children accessing the undeveloped sites and was also allowing horses to stray onto the site. They'd written numerous letters and warning to the developer, Rory O'Brien he advised, but to no avail.

"We are anxious that the developer completes the snag list, removes hazardous materials and landscapes or pemanently fences off the undeveloped sites so that the bonds can be released and the estate taken-in-charge," he explained. "It seems highly unlikely that the developer will ever finish off this estate in the manner planned for so he needs to revise his plans and submit a Site Resolution Plan to complete the estate. No further bond reductions will be recommended until the snag list is completed," he concluded.

Committee chairman Kevin O'Keefe asked about the entrance wall which he said was 'a big problem'. The engineer said the wall wouldn't be top of his list of problems but said as it was a stick-on facade, 'it wasn't fit for purpose'. He would suggest that the developer take it off and plaster the wall instead.

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