Councillors have approved plans to convert a HSE building in Castlerea into four independent living units. The tenants for these units will be people on the council’s housing waiting list.
It is hoped that the project will be completed quickly.
At a recent meeting of the Roscommon Municipal District, plans for the redevelopment of a former HSE dwelling into four independent living units at 2 Tithe Na gCarad, Williamstown Road, Castlerea, were outlined.
The Part 8 planning application was brought forward by the council on behalf of an approved housing body.
The councillors heard that the approved housing body, Sophia Housing, was applying to build the houses, with funding from the capital assistance scheme from the Department of Housing. The building, which has been vacant for a number of years, is approximately 750 metres from the town’s centre and was zoned as residential.
Cathaoirleach of the MD, Paschal Fitzmaurice said he supported the project in principle and asked whether the development would cater for mental health service users as it was for ‘independent living’.
“This whole facility was built for psychiatric services,” he said. He added that these services were changing and that many service users were living independently.
“We have seen the demise of the services in Castlerea,” he said, and asked that service users be accommodated.
“There are a lot of people in HSE independent living services and they do need help,” he said. He also called for the footpaths in the areas to be improved and for a pedestrian crossing to be installed.
Cllr Michael Holland welcomed the news, saying housing was a serious issue. Cllr Nigel Dineen agreed that the council’s housing stock needed to be increased. Cllr Marty McDermott said that the housing situation needed to be addressed, a sentiment shared by Cllr Larry Brennan.
Cllr Ruth Conboy acknowledged that there was a lot of frustration about the lack of housing. She asked was the building considered to be used as a family property as it was a reasonably large size. She was informed that most of the demand was for one and two bedroom properties.
