Local councillors have voiced frustration in respect of delays in the taking in charge of Rock Springs housing estate in Kilross.
The developer who lives in one of the five houses in the development received the full support of councillors in the Tipp Cahir Cashel District as he seeks to have the estate, completed in 2016 taken in charge by the council.
The development complied with it’s planning permission and all development fees and bonds were paid.
However a change in policy by the government in 2014 means those local councillors cannot exercise their power to vote to take the estate in charge until Irish Water signs off on the development.
As of now Irish water is not in a position to take over the estate and Tipperary county council water services officials are working to find a solution with the hope expressed at yesterday’s MD meeting that it may be resolved in the next few months by linking the waste water system to a neighbouring development in Hillview.
The Department of Housing says that the ‘guidelines specifically exclude estates with their own water treatment or waste-water treatment plants provided by the developer’ from being taken in charge.
Because such facilities do not have a connection to the public water and sewage network Irish Water is not responsible for them but installing this standalone system was a condition of the planning permission granted by Tipperary County Council. County Tipperary has 22 estates with Developer Provided Infrastructure (DPI) causing delays in estates being taken in charge by the council- the most in any county across the country.
When an estate is taken in charge the local authority takes over responsibility for maintaining the roads, paths, street lights and open spaces as it stands, the developer in Rock Springs is now continuing to maintain the estate long past the intended period.
