Residents of 62 estates eligible for waiver of household charge says Labour Councillor

Homeowners in over 60 unfinished housing estates throughout Mayo will be eligible for a waiver of the €100 household charge according to Westport based Labour councillor, Keith Martin.

According to Cllr Martin the new legislation "provides that an owner of residential property which is situated in an unfinished estate is entitled to a waiver from payment of the Household Charge in respect of that property for that year." 

The wavier only applies to estates where the developer is still in place but is effectively inactive, or where the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents. 

A national survey of unfinished housing developments was carried out in 2011 by officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in conjunction with the Planning Departments of the various local authorities. As part of this survey, all unfinished developments were examined and categorised along the following lines:

Category 1: the development is still being actively completed by the developer; 
Category 2: a receiver has been appointed; 
Category 3: a receiver has not been appointed and the developer is still in place but effectively inactive;  and 
Category 4: the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents. 

An owner of a residential property in an unfinished development contained in the prescribed list is entitled to a waiver from payment of the household charge in 2012. This prescribed list consists only of developments under Categories 3 and 4.

According to the Westport based Cllr Martin "A list of such estates has been published by the Dept of the Environment which has identified 62 such estates in Mayo.

This new charge, of EUR 100 per year in 2012, is unfortunately a condition of the EU/IMF bailout that was necessitated by the disastrous economic mismanagement of the previous FF/Green Government.

The charge will fund essential local services such as libraries, road cleaning, public lighting and so on that councils such as Westport Town Council and Mayo County Council provide to all citizens. 

The charge has been carefully framed so as to make owners liable rather than occupiers.  Social housing and houses of the elderly who are living in nursing homes etc are included in the exemptions.  Those in receipt of mortgage interest supplement and in these particular unfinished estates are also exempt."

 
Westport
Cedar Park,
Cluain Abhain
Sli Na Misean

Castlebar
Carrabeg
Heather Vale
College Woods
Sean Abhain
The Waterway

Ballina
Belleek Manor
Church Manor
Friars Court
Glen Ri
Lansyn
Quignalecka
Quignalecka Apartment
Un-named estate  Church Road

A full list of the qualifying unfinished estates is available at www.householdcharge.ie

https://www.householdcharge.ie/UHE/Mayo.pdf

WRFM News

This Thursday The Clock Tavern bar is hosting a Fundraiser session for Westport's community radio station WRFM 98.2.

The session kicks of at 9pm and Tickets are just €5.  There will also be a raffle.

The organisers promise plenty of criac and ceol from a host of Westport Session musicians.
All proceeds in support of WRFM.

Please come out and give us your support!

Journalists wanted!

Westport's community radio station, WRFM 98.2 is looking for experienced and student journalists who are interested in producing news, current affairs and documentary programming on the station.

 

According to Station Manager, Stephen O'Brien, WRFM 98.2 has a mandate "to provide quality local news and current affairs to our listeners in Westport and over the web.

 

"Our sports programming and reporting, which is produced and presented by Brendan Mulroy and Michael Killeen, has been very well received.

 

"We are now looking to develop our news and current affairs department so that we can provide instant breaking local and national news, as well as in depth analysis and discussion of local and national issues and concerns, in a professional, fair and balanced manner.

 

"We will be providing our news department volunteers with training in the areas of production, technical work, presentation and documentary making.

 

"Currently we have a rotating set of presenters for our news and politics shows, all of them experienced and qualified journalists.  We are now looking to add new talent (and voices) to WRFM 98.2's news and current affairs output."

 

WRFM 98.2's news programming goes out at 1pm on Saturdays and the Politics show goes out on Sundays from 10am till noon. 

 

Anyone interested is asked to get in touch with the station on 098 24000 or by emailing info@wrfm.ie.  More information is available on www.wrfm.ie.

 

WRFM 98.2 is Westport's community radio station and broadcasts to 2,000 listeners a week each and every Saturday and Sunday from 8am till midnight.

 

The station broadcasts from its studios in the courtyard on James Street and was established with funding from LEADER, Westport Town Council and the generous support of the people of Westport.

 

The station is run and managed by volunteers and is funded entirely by sponsorship by local businesses and donations by the Westport community. 

Church Gate Collection Thanks

The Westport Branch of the Labour Party would like to thank everyone
who gave so generously at their recent church gate collection in
Westport.  In particular Cllr Keith Martin would like to thank the
person who donated a 90-year-old Colombian silver dollar to his
collection bucket.  The coin, which is almost a troy ounce of solid
silver, will be sold to a coin dealer and the proceeds will go towards
the running costs of the Westport Branch of the Labour party.
The coin features the image of Simon Bolivar who is regarded in
Hispanic America as a hero, visionary, revolutionary, and liberator.
During his lifetime, he led Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru,
and Venezuela to independence from Spain, and helped lay the
foundations for democratic ideology in much of Hispanic America.
The coin was donated on the evening of Michael D Higgin's election as President.

Labour Party Branch Meeting

The Westport Branch of the Labour Party will meet on Wednesday
November 8th at 8pm in the Wyatt Hotel.  The meeting will be addressed
by Cllr Keith Martin who will update the members on the activities and
plans of Westport Town Council.  The Presidential election will be
discussed as will plans for a trip to Dail Eireann by the members.
Also on the agenda will be recruitment and fund raising. Membership
forms are available from 086 069 1182.

Statement on Pinewoods walkway

I am happy to confirm to you that the path in question belongs to Westport Town Council and is a public path and as such, is already, always has been and always will be, a public right of way.

As part of the granted planning permission the pathway adjacent to the Lidl site will be upgraded by Lidl, as a condition of their planning permission at their own expense.  This is no way affects the ownership of the pathway.

The work on the Lidl section of the path was delayed by the recent industrial disputes on the site.  This was outside the control of Westport Town Council but is now resolved.  

The rest of the pathway is being upgraded by the Town Council with a €150,000 grant from the Dept of Sports and Tourism. 

All the residents in the area recently received a written update and schedule of the works from me.  

Both sections of the path will be upgraded to same standard as the Greenway and will be part of the 'Northern Greenway', to be maintained as part of the official Greenway, for pedestrian and cycle access. 

All works on both sections of the pathway will be completed by the end of November when the pathway will reopen to the public.

I am very disappointed that it has taken Lidl so long to start work on the pathway.  I know that my neighbours in St Mary's Crescent and the Pinewoods look forward, as I do, to the upgrading of the pathway.  

Cllr Keith Martin

086 0691182

 

Residents of Pinewoods, St Mary's Crescent, Kings Hill, New Road

Dear Neighbours,

 

 

I am writing to update you on the upgrading of the pathway to the Pinewoods from the New Road, past the Lidl development, through to the Pinewoods.

 

As part of the granted planning permission the pathway adjacent to the Lidl site will be upgraded by Lidl, as a condition of their planning permission. 

 

These works have been delayed by the recent industrial disputes on the site.  These were outside the control of the Town Council but are now resolved and Lidl plan to be open for Halloween.

 

The rest of the pathway is being upgraded by the Town Council with a €150,000 grant from the Dept of Sports and Tourism. 

 

Both sections of the path will be upgraded to same standard as the Greenway and will be part of the 'Northern Greenway', to be maintained as part of the official Greenway, for pedestrian and cycle access. 

 

All works on both sections of the pathway will be completed by the end of November when the pathway will reopen to the public.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

____________

Keith Martin

Councillor