Councillors insist Nenagh site be used to help solve local housing problems

At the recent Nenagh Municipal District meeting, local councillor Seamus Morris called attention to a now derelict site in Stereame, Nenagh.

The site, which sits behind the Stereame industrial estate and next to the Castle Oak Crescent housing estate was once destined to become another housing estate but work halted in the early stages of development and the site has been left empty for a number of years.

Despite their being no homes and minimal visible structures at the site, the services are in the ground and ready for a signifcant number of homes.

Cllr Morris urged: “We need to ask the housing department to make the site an affordable rental accommodation site.
“Thurles has a great modular home scheme going and we should aim to recreate this in Stereame. We shouldn’t be afraid to do something different.

“Nenagh is struggling, people that moved here 20 years ago are losing their houses because their landlords are selling up and these people that have been here for years are having to leave the town in search of accommodation.

“I’ve had a number of people in touch with me over the past few weeks looking for housing and I haven’t been able to help them in a number of cases because the solution just isn’t there.

“Stereame could help to solve this issue.”

Cllr Ryan O’Meara agreed with Cllr Morris: “Affordable housing is the issue in Nenagh.

“The Streame site is where we have to make movement.

“I have plenty of friends who are all young people in their late 20s or early 30s in good jobs that are really struggling to find somewhere to live.

“I actually drove around the modular homes in Thurles and did some of my own research into them and they would be an ideal solution.

“There are older people who are currently only able to use the ground floor of their homes because they can’t access the upstairs, these people could be moved into single story modular homes and free up these homes for families and younger people.”

The council members were told that Clonmel has been chosen as a first priority for new homes to be built to help solve the housing crisis. However, there is set to be a study early next year on what areas in Tipperary can be used for affordable housing and Stereame would be considered as part of this.

This discussion came after it was recently announced that Tipperary County Council will be hiring a staff officer for homeless services on a three-year special purpose contract which will be based out of Nenagh. A recent homelessness report revealed that there were 47 adults accessing emergency accommodation in Tipperary during the last week of July.