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Calls for Housing Executive to clarify Loanda Crescent improvements

Newry City Sinn Féin Councillor Liz Kimmins has called on the Housing Executive to clarify exactly when the home improvement scheme will begin in Loanda Crescent.

Speaking about the issue to Newry Times, Kimmins said, “For some time now my colleague Charlie Casey and I have been dealing with residents in the Loanda Crescent area regarding proposed “state of the art renovations” to their homes.

“Residents were finding it extremely difficult to heat their homes and it was discovered that there was substantial heat loss which was found when NIHE carried out an assessment of the houses.

“This was going back seven years and to date no work has commenced to deal with the problem which is totally unacceptable.

Cllr Kimmins continued, “After listening carefully to the residents’ concerns I organised a meeting on Wednesday 8th October in Barcroft Community Centre. Sinn Féin was represented by Cllr Casey and I, along with officials from Newry and Belfast NIHE.

“The residents raised their concerns and outlined the conditions that they were living in at present. They also talked about feeling they had been “fobbed off” in the past by the NIHE.

“One resident explained that they were advised by NIHE not to carry out any internal works to their homes which led them to believe that the work was to start soon. This type of delaying should not go unchallenged. The people of Loanda Crescent are entitled to their rights as is everyone else.

“At this meeting, I asked the Housing Executive to outline to residents exactly what work is to be done and when it is to be started and completed. NIHE officials outlined to residents the proposed date for commencement of work onsite was March 2015 and they were confident this would go ahead on time.”

Commenting on the issue Cllr Casey remarked, “We are facing into another winter and these people have still not had any works carried out to their homes. This issue must be addressed as a matter of urgency and I call on the Housing Executive to put down a timescale for work to begin.

“These residents have suffered enough upheaval and work must begin soon. There have been huge amounts of money handed back to the British Treasury by the previous DSD minister, money which should have been used for schemes like this one.”

Concluding the meeting, NIHE have agreed to keep residents informed at all stages of the work and a follow up meeting with residents has been arranged for early December to monitor progress.

NIHE have also given residents a commitment to address any holding repairs in the interim to alleviate issues coming into the winter period.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=45716

Posted by on Oct 20 2014. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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