North Belfast Sinn Fein councillor Margaret McClenaghan has called on the Housing Executive (HE) to listen to the fears of residents living in the shadow of a derelict death-trap.
Margaret repeated her demands for housing bosses to demolish the building in the Farringdon area of Ardoyne.
Margaret said she fears children playing in the grounds will be injured or worse if and when it collapses.
Despite HE assurances that the property would be surveyed by a structural engineer, Margaret said technicalities were wasting precious time.
“It doesn't take an engineer to see the bungalow is a health and safety nightmare and it needs to be demolished,” said Margaret.
“If that house was demolished and two houses built in its place it would make residents' lives more bearable and at the same time provide vital housing for those on North Belfast's ever-increasing housing waiting list.”
Residents of the area had also been plagued by anti-social gangs drinking and partying in a privately-owned derelict house in the same street.
Although the landlord has boarded up the property on several occasions, the Republican representative said more needed to be done to bring the situation to a close.
“With these two vacant properties so close together it's an absolute nightmare situation for residents and I want to see something done to end all this,” said Margaret.
“Vacant houses have always been a recipe for disaster and when it starts to effect the quality of life of those around them we need to speak out.”
No comments:
Post a Comment