Brian Stanley: Infrastructure is blocking housing in County Leish
Brian Stanley addressed infrastructure shortfalls that are preventing housing development in County Leish, calling for a clear investment plan, low-interest loans for small builders and a review of past Irish Water spending. He argued that water, waste water and electricity constraints, together with data centre demand and zoning issues, are hampering house building in towns and villages across the county.
Brian Stanley told the minister that it has taken government a long time to accept there is a housing crisis and detailed huge constraints in water, waste water and electricity infrastructure. He named 13 towns and villages requiring improved water capacity, including Port Arlington, Sleena Moana and the Ballymurras Road area, Mount Rattown, Strade Valley, Rathdowney, Ballylinen, Dorough, Cillanard, Burris Nostri, Ballinachill, Castletown, Ballybrittis, Newtown and Great Cullen.
He warned the waste water position is more acute, with four communities on red alert and four on amber. The four on red alert he listed were Burris Nostri, Ballinachill, Swan and Tim O'Hoo; on amber he cited Mount Mellich, Clunasley and Arliss, noting Mount Mellich is a substantial town that needs increased capacity.
Brian Stanley challenged claims that not enough land is zoned for housing, citing figures from the minister's department that 46,300 hectares are zoned nationally - over 100,000 acres - and arguing that equates to hundreds of thousands of potential homes. He said County Leish has 1,145 hectares zoned for mixed use and added that, "Assuming 700,000 of that could be used for housing at 20 units per hectare, that would give you 14,000 houses in County Leish alone."
He relayed warnings from the ESB that electricity demands from data centres are curtailing reserve supply for housing developments, asserting that over one-fifth of supply is being taken up by data centres. He said the ESB, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and local councils have flagged the issue and urged a balanced approach given a shaky grid and over-dependence on a limited number of generation sources.
Brian Stanley called for a clear investment plan for County Leish, low-interest loans to activate small builders and the development of small schemes in towns and villages to meet local demand and reduce commuting. He urged the minister to review the money spent on Irish Water over the last 12 years, arguing that if those funds had been given to local authorities the country's water and infrastructure would be in a stronger position.
Immediate infrastructure shortages
Brian Stanley told the minister that it has taken government a long time to accept there is a housing crisis and detailed huge constraints in water, waste water and electricity infrastructure. He named 13 towns and villages requiring improved water capacity, including Port Arlington, Sleena Moana and the Ballymurras Road area, Mount Rattown, Strade Valley, Rathdowney, Ballylinen, Dorough, Cillanard, Burris Nostri, Ballinachill, Castletown, Ballybrittis, Newtown and Great Cullen.
Waste water red and amber alerts
He warned the waste water position is more acute, with four communities on red alert and four on amber. The four on red alert he listed were Burris Nostri, Ballinachill, Swan and Tim O'Hoo; on amber he cited Mount Mellich, Clunasley and Arliss, noting Mount Mellich is a substantial town that needs increased capacity.
Zoned land and housing calculations
Brian Stanley challenged claims that not enough land is zoned for housing, citing figures from the minister's department that 46,300 hectares are zoned nationally - over 100,000 acres - and arguing that equates to hundreds of thousands of potential homes. He said County Leish has 1,145 hectares zoned for mixed use and added that, "Assuming 700,000 of that could be used for housing at 20 units per hectare, that would give you 14,000 houses in County Leish alone."
Electricity and data centre pressure
He relayed warnings from the ESB that electricity demands from data centres are curtailing reserve supply for housing developments, asserting that over one-fifth of supply is being taken up by data centres. He said the ESB, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and local councils have flagged the issue and urged a balanced approach given a shaky grid and over-dependence on a limited number of generation sources.
Proposed remedies and spending critique
Brian Stanley called for a clear investment plan for County Leish, low-interest loans to activate small builders and the development of small schemes in towns and villages to meet local demand and reduce commuting. He urged the minister to review the money spent on Irish Water over the last 12 years, arguing that if those funds had been given to local authorities the country's water and infrastructure would be in a stronger position.
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Transcript
Minister, it has taken a long time to get government to accept that there is a housing crisis. Predecessors in your seat would not accept that, but I think now it is accepted. We have huge constraints in infrastructure, water infrastructure, waste water infrastructure and electricity infrastructure. Just in relation to the county I am most familiar with, 13 towns and villages require improved capacity. I will name them for you, Port Arlington and particularly people who have complained to me in the Sleena Moana and the Ballymurras Road area of the lack of water pressure in those areas. Mount Rattown, Strade Valley, Rathdowney, Ballylinen, Dorough, Cillanard, Burris Nostri, Ballinachill, Castletown, Ballybrittis, Newtown and Great Cullen all require improved capacity. If we look at the area of waste water, the position is even more tricky. There are four towns and villages on amber alert regarding waste water. But there are four on red alert. The four on red alert are Burris Nostri, Ballinachill, Swan and Tim O'Hoo. On amber alert you have Mount Mellich, a substantial town that needs increased capacity. Clunasley, Arliss, all on amber alert. This needs to be addressed because we cannot have homes without infrastructure. This is hampering house building in these towns and villages and the Government needs to set out a clear investment plan for County Leish to address this. Also and I have raised this picture before, we need low interest loans available for the small builders. We need to be able to activate these small builders and developers who can get going and build small schemes in these towns and villages which would take up a lot of the demand that is there. Everybody wants to live in the city. A lot of these people are working locally, it would save them having to commute. All those towns and villages that I mentioned, a lot of them, small schemes could be developed in those. The Government, and can I just move on to zoned land for a minute. The Government say not enough land is zoned for housing. And it is true that in some areas, Minister, you and I know, it may not be in the right place. But there is substantial land zone because your department has told me there is 46,300 hectares. That is over 100,000 acres and if you work that out, that is a huge hundreds of thousands of houses across the state. In County Leish, 1,145 hectares of zoned for mixed use. Assuming 700,000 of that could be used for housing at 20 units per hectare, that would give you 14,000 houses in County Leish alone. Now Port Leish, there are some areas where it is constrained and there will need to be land zone and Port Leish would be one of them. In relation to electricity, the ESB has flagged that electricity demands of data centres is curtailing and will curtail the amount in reserve in supply for housing developments. Over one-fifth of the supply is being taken up with data centres and they are arguing completely against them. You have to have a bit of balance here. You cannot expand the number of homes to be delivered in a lot of areas and a lot of localities because we have a shaky grid and we have a shaky means of capacity with over-dependence on just a number of sources of generation. The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland have flagged this. As I said, the ESB have flagged it. Ischgeirn and local councils have flagged it. One last thought, Minister. Your predecessor, I argued with him here on the floor, Phil Hogan, when he was Minister about the establishment of Irish Water, I would ask you to go back and look at the money that went into Irish Water in the last 12 years. Just think about this. If that money had to be given to local authorities, we would have very good water and infrastructure in this country instead of what we have at the moment. That's all I would say to you. So we need a plan for a county lease, we need an investment plan and we need to move on with house building. Go raibh maith maith. Thanks, Deputy Stanley.