Residents threaten rates protest

Residents threaten rates protest

20 May 2015

RESIDENTS of one of Downpatrick’s largest housing estates are threatening to withhold their rates if the council does not help maintain green areas.

A petition is circulating within the Demesne seeking a solution for extensive green space that has become waste ground within the Ardglass Road site.

Two large green areas and lengthy verges should have been made into parkland by the developer of the 212-house scheme as part of a condition of planning approval granted in 2001.

However, the estate was never finished after the developer got into difficulties as a result of the economic downturn.

As a result, the green areas, which are still strewn with builders’ rubble, have become overgrown and are used as a dumping ground.

Residents, who have tried to encourage the council or planners to help them find a solution for the waste ground, are now threatening to withdraw their rates if support is not made available.

Carla McGrady, who is co-ordinating the campaign, said the abandoned green areas were an eyesore that were ruining the tone of the development.

“There were supposed to be play areas but any green space left has not been maintained at all,” she said.

“If you look out the window of my house you see overgrown grass strewn with litter.

“Residents were supposed to pay an annual fee for the maintenance of the green areas but because the builder went into liquidation they were never even created.

“There must be public amenity areas for a development of this size yet these areas have been left with so much mess and rubble on site that it would impossible to clear without proper machinery.

“In recent months Roads Services has cut the very edge of the road and footpaths but says it does not have responsibility for any more.

“The ground is not insured so people are loathe to do it themselves.It is an absolute eye sore. These green areas have been abandoned.

“We pay rates and there are other estates where the council does cut grassy areas so why should we be any different?”

Katrina Dogley, who has lived in the estate for over nine years, said she too felt the abandoned green areas affected the appeal of the estate, while Kathryn Anne Simpson, who has lived 

there for four years, said she assumed it would have been properly maintained.

“It is messy and untidy. We were told it was meant to have been maintained,” she said.

“Now Roads Service officials come and cut the first metre every few months and leave the rest overgrown.”

Nikki Smyth, who moved into the Demesne 10 years ago, agreed the green areas have become an eye sore.

“We are currently putting an extension onto our house to improve it. To have to look out of the house onto these derelict areas is not great.

“We feel let down by politicians. Even if the council just agreed to cut the grass that is all we want.”

Local builder Robert Adams, from Omega Developments, who has recently purchased derelict houses and sites within the Demesne for redevelopment, said he was trying to improve the overall look of the estate.

“It is time the DoE stepped in and sorted this out as it enforced this policy of green areas at the time of planning approval to help curb overdevelopment,” he said.

“The residents have been left with a problem, the green areas are unsightly and covered in litter.

“Many people are in negative equity and the area is not being helped by these issues. This is not the way to leave things as it also affects people who may want to sell their house.”

A spokeswoman for Newry, Mourne and Down Council confirmed the council is currently investigating the issue, while a spokeswoman for the Department of Environment said the issue affecting the Demesne did not fall under its remit.