Athlone mother abandons "nightmare" council home

A local mother has strongly criticised Athlone Town Council after moving out of local authority housing which she said made life a "nightmare" for her and her family. Coosan native Laura Greene had been on a waiting list for a council house for just over a year before the local authority moved her into the premises in Battery Heights last December. She said the council house was in a deplorable state and that her three-year-old daughter was ill throughout the time she lived there. "When we complained the council offered us one other house which was also in Battery Heights and it was even worse than the place where we were living. "The house wasn't a healthy environment for my daughter, so we were forced to move out and find rented accommodation on our own last weekend," she said. Laura stated that she wasn't given an opportunity to view the council house before moving in last December. She described the deeply unpleasant sight and smell which greeted her and her family when they first arrived at their new home. "The front garden was, and is, full of rubbish. When I got to the front door I was met with this horrible smell of urine from dogs and cats that had been in the house previously," she said. "There were no floorboards in the house, just concrete floors, and the toilet seat in the bathroom was covered in faeces and urine." The Westmeath Independent visited the house last Friday and found that the stench from dogs and cats was still present, and was particularly strong upstairs. "The smell is in the walls and the floors and it got into our clothes and everything else. It's a nightmare," stated Laura. She said her three-year-old daughter, Holly, became ill after moving into the house and remained in poor health throughout the time she was living there. "Holly never had a problem with asthma or breathing before but she's now on asthmatic inhalers and steroids. I was told that if she didn't get better soon hospital would be the next step for her," said Laura. A recent letter from Holly's GP stated that the child had: "A run of very poor health which appears to coincide with her family moving into new accommodation which they report is in squalid condition. I have little doubt that her health is adversely affected by the poor living conditions." Laura said the elder of her two daughters, Chermaine, who is aged 13, has difficulties with asthma and was forced to live with a relative because she was unable to cope with the smell in the council house. Her partner, Mark, also stated that he was constantly sick and was been given two prescriptions for antibiotics while living in the house in Battery Heights. "When you turned on the heating the smell got worse, so you had a choice between freezing to death or choking to death. The house was not fit for a dog," said Mark. Frozen pipes disrupted water supply to the house over the Christmas period and Laura stated that the family was moved into student accommodation in Willow Park for a short period but that it, too, had no running water. She stated that she made numerous complaints to the council after she moved into the house in Battery Heights. "As far as I'm concerned the council were responsible for putting us in that house and it should have been their responsibility to move us into accommodation that was suitable." When contacted by the Westmeath Independent, Edel Martin of Athlone Town Council's housing section stated that, in general, it is not council policy to comment on individual cases. However, she said the council was aware of the situation and had offered "a solution" to Laura and her family. When asked if she would move into council housing again in the future, Laura replied: "I would only move in if I was given a chance to view the place first. It's a case of 'once bitten twice shy.'"