Councillors seek clarity on residents associations' responsibilities

By Rebekah O'Reilly

A call was made for clarity on what responsibility residents’ associations have for boundaries in their housing estates during a recent meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District.

The district's new Mayor, Cllr Vinny McCormack, told its June monthly meeting that it was "unfair" for residents' associations to be held accountable for damage to boundary walls or fences within the entire span of their housing estate.

In a motion at the meeting, Cllr McCormack called on the Municipal District "to facilitate a meeting between the members, and executive personnel from planning, and taking in charge, to discuss the responsibilities of the District in terms of housing estates and to prepare a definitive document which can be circulated to housing estate officers through the PPN (Public Participation Network)."

Commenting on his motion, the Fianna Fáil councillor said: "Members [of Residents Associations] are already responsible for their own boundary of their garden, they shouldn't be responsible for the whole estate.

"The rules need to be put in black and white for once and for all."

In response, District Engineer Willie Ryan said there was a "significant cost" to repairing boundaries, which the council does not have the resources to deal with.

"If there's an issue with the roads and the services, apart from Irish Water services, we deal with it. We just don't have the resources for private infrastructure like walls.

"I know from my own experience, volunteering on my residents' association, if we ever had an issue with a boundary we collected €50 from each of the houses, and we took responsibility for it ourselves to have it fixed.

"If the council takes over responsibility, it takes away some of the accountability and responsibility from the residents association."

Cllr McCormack responded: “Residents associations already raise maybe €100 per house for the year for the upkeep of cutting the grass, flower beds, and jobs like that. As for grants from the council, they're allowed €300 to €400 – that's it.

"I don't think it's fair for them to have to cover extra expenses further than that. The responsibility of boundaries doubles the responsibility on residents."

Mr Ryan responded that the issue was "a grey area", and perhaps there was a legal responsibility, but it was unclear.

"After the last storm, there was a huge bill to pay for fallen trees. Usually those trees would be the responsibility of the landowner, but we have a civic duty to keep services flowing and to clear the roads.

"It's a grey area, we can't step in every time there's an issue with a tree, we can't step in every time there's an issue with a wall. Maybe there's a legal responsibility, and we need to set aside time to deal with this issue."

Director of Services, Jackie Finney, added: “There is a policy, but it is well out of date, and it is in the process of being updated.

"The policy should be made available online so it's clear to homeowners and property owners where the responsibility lies, before someone buys a home or a property. It's not clear, and that's the issue," she concluded.