Published: Wednesday, 3rd March, 2010 5:30pm

'Don't waste money on facilities that will be wrecked' - Cllr Buckley Byrne

Willow Park residents support anti-social behaviour remarks

And she hit out at Athlone Town Council for introducing council tenants into a private estate - a move she controversially claimed brought anti-social behaviour to the area.

She was making her comments when the monthly meeting of the council was presented with a regeneration plan for the area by Athlone Area Manager Barry Kehoe.

Mr Kehoe presented councillors with an ambitious, long-term plan tackling dereliction, litter and the lack of facilities. However, the council will be reliant on extra funding from the Housing Minister Michael Finneran, as the total cost of the proposed works come to €260,000 but the council only has a budget of €35,151.

However Cllr Buckley Byrne expressed her concerns over spending so much of taxpayers money in a private estate if the proposed playground and multi-purpose area get "wrecked".

"The significant turning point was when the council bought houses in a private estate. People with a history of anti-social behaviour moved into the area," said Cllr Buckley Byrne.

"You're putting a playground at derelict council houses. You're planning to allocate €60,000 to a playground and behind it there's rubbish and as you said yourself, there's no natural surveillance. And you want to spend €100,000 on a pitch but I'm not convinced that it won't be wrecked... and waste taxpayers' money," she said.

"Residents, property owners and community groups have all said that unless there's some level of public safety and monitoring, they can't see how the estate can move on. I understand why the council don't want to put in CCTV, however the council is part of the cause of anti-social behaviour in the area. We really need to be very careful how we spend money. I welcome the proposed works but the dumping there is unbelievable and this is where you want to spend €160,000."

She said that the illegal dumping reminded her of walking down St Patrick's Terrace to the town dump years ago. Cllr Paul Hogan asked her to retract her statement and said it was a "disgraceful comment". "Even to suggest that we transfer tenants around the place because of anti-social behaviour is a terrible comment to make," he added.

Cllr Kieran Molloy said it was unfair to blame the council for the problems and that there were laws in place to deal with anti-social behaviour. He said there were plenty of landlords renting to people who cause anti-social behaviour and some students were noisy and dumped rubbish outside their houses.

"There are many long-established residents living in Willow Park and they come from a high background... they need a new beginning," said Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, who also criticised Cllr Buckley Byrne's comments about the council housing.

Mr Kehoe said that the council would only invest €100,000 on sport facilities if there was an improvement in dumping, dereliction and green areas first. "I take issue with the Deputy Mayor pointing out that Willow Park went down after Athlone Town Council bought houses. It's not fair on some of our tenants," he added. "The purpose-built student accommodation has helped. It went downhill because of the students." Mr Kehoe said that the council is hoping that landlords will contribute to a fund, as the council work would help increase the value of their properties. He also said that if the council has a plan and funding in place, it can apply for additional funding from the Department of Environment, Housing and Local Government.