Cahereen Heights private housing estate, here in Castleisland, has gone through it share of excitement in recent years.
Today has been another one of the good days. Kerry County Council decided at its meeting in Killarney today that it is to take over the management of the estate as soon as it is feasible.
The estate came to national attention on Saturday, November 22nd. 2014 when a huge hole appeared in the green area between the houses and the main road at about 9am that morning.
Under Pressure
News reports, which mistakenly presented the collapse as a sinkhole, brought the incident to the attention of the country and beyond.
The collapse of a reinforced and under pressure cover of an underground water holding tank caused the hole to appear and the sinkhole controversy to spread.
The Liberty Insurance office in America picked up on the CNN relay of that evening’s RTÉ News at 9pm and the ball was already rolling in favour of the estate.
The insurance company covered itself in honour and glory as the machines and the men moved in on the estate in early December. A comprehensive programme of work was undertaken by the appointed, Longford / Westmeath based firm of Duffy’s Contractors – and they were out the gap by mid May.
Storm Water Drains
Their instructions included the lifting of storm water drains to suit adjoining run-off pipes; public lighting was to be over-hauled; the footpaths were to be upgraded and any other business at Cahereen Heights was to be cleared up on the orders of Liberty Insurance.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of campaigns in my time but it’s great to get this one over the line,” was residents’ association chairman, Charlie Farrelly’s response at the time.
“Fair play to Liberty Insurance, fair play to Kerry County Council and all involved in the joint effort in getting the project this far.
Eye-to-Eye
“In fairness to ‘The Councillor’ (Bobby O’Connell) – we don’t always see eye-to-eye on things – but he has worked hard on this issue over the past two years or so,” said Charlie.
“The collapse – or the Hole-in-the-Ground – concentrated minds on all the problems in the estate,” added a delighted Charlie.
Kerry County Council’s guidelines for the taking over of estates are set out in this PFD presentation which you can see with a click here: http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/media/media,1586,en.pdf
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