SPC 1 - Minutes
Minutes of Meeting of Strategic Policy Committee 1 – Housing & Corporate – Held on Tuesday, 8th March, 2022 at 10.00 A.M. in The Council Chamber, County Hall, Riverside, Sligo
MEMBERS PRESENT:
- Arthur Gibbons (Chair)
- Declan Bree
- Gino O’Boyle
- Martin Baker
- Tom Fox
- Pippa Black (PPN Social Inclusion)
- Alan McMenamin (PPN Community and Voluntary)
OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE:
- Mr Jim Molloy, Director of Services
- Mr Joe Murphy, Senior Executive Officer
- Mr Sean Martin, A/Senior Architect
- Mr Jimmy O’Brien, I.S. Project Leader
- Ms Caroline McManus, Senior Staff Officer
- Ms Mary Farrell, Assistant Staff Officer
APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Pascal Connolly (Trade Union Pillar) and Melinda Swann (PPN Environment)
INTRODUCTION:
The Chair, Councillor Gibbons, welcomed all to the meeting and he sought the agreement of all for the meeting to be recorded for the purposes of minute taking. This was agreed.
PRESENTATION BY SELF ORGANISED ARCHITECTURE
A presentation was given to the meeting by Tom O’Donnell and Colin McDonnell on behalf of Self Organised Architecture. They advised the meeting that community led housing was a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable approach to housing with local people playing a leading and lasting role in solving local housing problems. They also outlined the roadblocks to community led housing which included access to land, lack of recognition of community led housing and absence of affordable finance for initiatives.
Some of their recommendations included recognition of community led housing in the government policy statement Housing for all, sale or lease of public land for community development on the basis of a competitive procedure, and stakeholders including local authorities collaborating with CLH groups to create demonstrator projects. They advised that in July 2021 when the affordable housing act was passed into law in Ireland, it recognised for the first time the community land trust as well as community led housing as a body that local authorities could enter into agreement with for the purpose of affordable homes. Local authorities could support community led housing by improving housing supply, supporting regeneration and returning empty homes to use and involving residents in addressing housing need. They outlined a number of reference projects including Limerick Living Georgian City, Older Women’s CoHousing, London and inclusive neighbourhoods in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.
Following the presentation, a number of questions were raised by members. The meeting was informed that Community led housing was a form of affordable housing but also included an element of social housing and it was hoped that communities could avail of affordable financing from the HFA.
The meeting was also informed that the Dept of Housing were prioritising cost rental and shared equity schemes and there would not be not be any regulations in the immediate term for community led housing.
S Martin asked if local authorites could provide any intervention or support in the process of community led housing and he also said that land purchased by the local authority was funded by the state, and if the local authority was to make that land available, the purpose would really be for social housing. The meeting was informed that local authorities could initially support pilot projects and have a role in supporting groups in terms of providing technical and financial support. They could also develop registers of demand and use that as a way to develop land and allocation policies for community led housing in the future. Different projects would require different levels of support and the benefit would have to justify expenditure.
A request was made for the presentation slides to be provided to each member and it was queried if a presentation would be given to the Planning SPC.
The meeting was informed that SOA did hold events in the form of workshops with speakers from established projects and it was hoped that a visit to Sligo could be considered within the next year or so if there was enough public interest in it and if it could be arranged.
The Chair, Councillor Gibbons, thanked both Tom O’Donnell and Colin McDonnell for the excellent presentation and wished them every success.
MINUTES OF MEETING OF SPC1 HELD ON 7TH DECEMBER, 2021
It was proposed by Councillor Bree
Seconded by Councillor O’Boyle
AND AGREED
“To confirm the minutes of the Meeting of the Strategic Policy Committee 1 – Housing and Corporate – held on 7th December, 2021.
MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES:
Councillor Bree queried if the Housing Delivery Action Plan had been drafted and submitted to the Minister. J Molloy, Director of Services, informed the meeting that the draft had been submitted to the Minister as per the deadline and the Council were awaiting its approval. Councillor Bree asked that a copy be circulated once approved by the Department and this was agreed.
P Black was satisfied that the two matters arising as follows which had been submitted had been dealt with
“Following the responses we had to our proposal around HAP provision in Sligo, the PPN would like to ask when was the last review of HAP tenancies in Sligo?” – J Murphy and J Molloy had issued replies.
“Can we please have a date for the PPN to give a presentation on the aspects of our Health and Wellbeing Vision that relate to the work of this committee? – A date had already been set at the previous SPC1 meeting for this presentation.
P Black stated that PPN Reps would like to acknowledge that the system of receiving notification for agenda items and the timing of the SPC1 agenda being circulated was going well. To further improve this, she said they were seeking an agreement that committee members should receive the draft minutes from the previous meeting along with the request for agenda items for a meeting.
P Black also stated that PPN reps wished to inform the committee and by extension the Disability Consultative Committee, that they have applied to the Autism charity AsIAm to begin the process towards attaining Autism-Friendly status for Sligo Town and a committee would have to be set up to oversee it.
NOMINATION TO SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL DISABILITY CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
A resolution had already been passed at the full Council meeting on 7th March, 2022 to appoint Mark Kupczak as PPN representative on the Disability Consultative Committee to fill the vacancy caused by resignation of Claire Heslin.
P Black queried whether this ratification was actually necessary as this was a permanent PPN seat on the Disability Consultative Committee and they had already lost a representative and she didn’t think this was the correct procedure.
Councillor Bree said that at the full Council meeting on 7th March it was agreed to nominate Mark Kupczak on the basis that the SPC1 would approve it at this meeting. He further added that normally the SPC1 committee would send the nomination to the full Council but on this occasion the Council was anxious to have Mark Kupczak as a full member for the next meeting of the Disability Consultative Committee.
Councillor Bree then proposed that the SPC1 approve Mark Kupczak’s membership and this was seconded by Councillor Gibbons and agreed.
WORK PROGRAMME LIST
The work programme list had already been circulated to the members and a discussion took place on options from the List that could be placed on future SPC1 agendas.
Amongst items that members would like to see discussed were private housing stock, repair and lease scheme, rural planning and one off housing, GDPR, Council’s customer complaints policy, corporate plan. Cllr Bree said it would be useful if there could be draft documents for the committee to consider, for example the Housing allocation Scheme and the Committee could indicate where changes or improvements could be made. P Black told the meeting that there was an interest by the PPN to look at the traveller accommodation programme.
A McMenamin said that the PPN had submitted a request for consideration at this SPC1 meeting that a workshop be held with the Council SPC1 members to define the work plan in manageable protions with the aim of agreing key actions for the 2022 meetings.
S Martin said that it must be noted that some of the Housing Department actions are dictated to by the Department and some are reserved functions.
J Molloy, Director of Services advised that there were policies in place and this was not an exhaustive list of options and it was up to the SPC1 committee to decide what areas they wanted to discuss and policy updates would be given. He suggested that one item be taken from the Housing list and one item from the Corporate list. After further discussion, it was agreed that private rented accommodation standards and customer complaints procedure be included on the agenda for the next SPC1 meeting. P Black asked how soon in advance of meetings can reports be provided on these items as they would need to discuss them with community groups.
With regard to presentations, Councillor Fox asked that the Construction Industry Federation be invited to make a presentation to the SPC1 committee in relation to challenges in the supply of housing and Cllr Bree reiterated this.
It was agreed that this would take place at the SPC1 meeting in December, 2022 as the Irish Wheelchair Association were making a presentation to the meeting in June, 2022 and the PPN were making a presentation to the meeting in September, 2022.
UPDATE ON HOUSING DELIVERY 2017 – 2021
J Murphy, Senior Executive Officer, referred to report already circulated showing housing delivery 2017-2021 and outturn for 2018-2021. He informed the meeting that it was the intention at the next meeting of SPC1 that the housing delivery update would set out the targets and outturns for 2022-2026. He advised the meeting that the outturn for 2017 was 88 and that 230 units were delivered between 2018-2021, with the target of 296 not having been met which was largely due to the effects of Covid.
A McMenamin queried if Housing for All would be a part of this report and if the figures could be allocated per municipal district. He was advised by J Murphy that from the next quarter the Council would be setting out the 2022-2026 delivery targets together with outturns on an ongoing basis and it was not the intention to allocate the delivery figures per municipal district.
J Molloy, Director of Services said that housing delivery would be focused on where demand was. He further stated that the figure the Council had from the Department for the next five years for all municipal districts was 517.
Councillor Baker queried if an objective of one or two rural houses per year could be included in the housing targets and in reply S Martin said that they can be counted as part of the targets and the Council would be considering every option to deliver housing.
REPAIRS ON AIR TO WATER HEATING SYSTEM IN HOUSE IN FR O’FLANAGAN TERRACE
The following notice of motion was submitted by Councillor Bree
“That the committee be provided with a breakdown of the costs paid on each occasion to the plumbers/contractors who carried out repairs on the air to water heating system in a house in Fr O Flanagan Terrace, Sligo, and further that the committee be advised as to the number of houses in the scheme which have had repairs carried out on their heating systems since the scheme opened.”
Councillor Bree referred to a report prepared by J Murphy which showed a cost of €1,370 plus vat. He stated that it was unacceptable that a tenant should be left without running water and heat and that the cost was excessive but thanked J Murphy for the breakdown of the costs. He said that a member of staff from the Repair/maintenance section should attend a meeting to address issues like this.
J Murphy said the matter was complicated and that there was also the issue of the warranty regarding the heating water system. J Molloy, Director of Services said that if there were issues, they would need to be addressed and kept under review and the Council would be willing to engage with Councillors to get matters resolved.
FAULTY SHOWER IN HOUSE IN KNAPPAGH BEG COURT
The following notice of motion was submitted by Councillor Bree
“That the Committee be advised as to what action the Council has taken in regard to the faulty shower in No. 23 Knappagh Beg Court, Knappagh Road, Sligo, including details and dates of complaints submitted by the tenant.”
Councillor Bree informed the meeting that the tenant had complained over a period of 3 to 4 months of being unable to use the shower and had not got satisfactory responses.
S Martin, Acting Senior Architect, briefed the meeting on the dates and details of when complaints were made and the actions taken. He said that he had visited the property on 7th March and discussed the overspill of the shower with the tenant who conceded that this was an intermittent occurrence and that there may be a back fall in the drainage pipe. S Martin said that further investigation would be followed up.
Councillor Bree said the Council’s complaints procedure was unsatisfactory and needed to be addressed. Councillor Fox said that he had also received complaints from this tenant and that there should be a dedicated email address and telephone number for tenants to request repairs. J Murphy informed the meeting that there was a dedicated telephone line and email address housingrepairs@sligococo.ie for tenants, details of which were in the tenant handbook and all requests were logged but it would be followed up to see if the correct details were on the Council’s website.
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SPC MEMBERS
P Black queried why the following question submitted by the PPN did not appear on the agenda proper in the same manner as the questions submitted by Councillor Bree.
“With MICA being an issue of concern in the western region, have Sligo County Council carried out any scoping exercise on the matter and what if any indications are there of potential impact on existing social / public housing stock and private dwellings.
A McMenamin asked if mica was an issue of concern in Sligo and if any scoping exercise had been carried out on housing stock and if any testing had been done to IS 465 standards on the Council’s own housing stock.
J Molloy, Director of Services informed the meeting that a brief scoping exercise had been done and submitted to the Department to try to assess the risk within the county and the Council were waiting on advice from them. He said that there had also been engagement with different community groups, some Councillors and T. D’s. He further stated that the Council were looking for results from properties that may have been affected by this to make sure that the relevant testing under IS465 had been done to the standard required by the Department and then it could be determined if there was a problem. He said that this would not be led by the local authority unless there were local authority houses affected. He further stated that no testing had been done on Council’s housing stock under IS 465.
Councillor Fox asked if there was a designated person in the Council to contact if a person had concerns regarding mica and he was informed by J Molloy that part of the process that the Council was going through with the Department was to get a designated person established.
CALENDAR OF MEETINGS 2022
The Chair proposed the following dates for SPC1 meetings for the remainder of the year:
Tuesday, 14th June, 2022, Tuesday, 6th September, 2022 and
Tuesday, 6th December, 2022 and these dates were agreed.
CORRESPONDENCE
There was no correspondence.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
With regard to the influx of refugees from Ukraine, A McMenamin queried if the local authority had received any communication from the Department.
J Molloy in reply said that this would be led by the Department of Justice and the local authority would be engaging with them to see what involvement would be required. It was an issue that the Council would have to be ready for and it was difficult to see where the housing options would be.
P Black, on behalf of M Swann who was absent, asked regarding the banning of glyphosate on Council housing estates and if this SPC would support making it a banned substance in Sligo. It was agreed to follow up on a previous motion in this regard that may have been submitted by Cllr O’Grady at a previous meeting.
DRAFT HOUSING ALLOCATION POLICY
J Murphy summarised proposed further revisions to the Draft Housing Allocation Policy, which he had sent by email to the members on 4th March, 2022 under the headings - area of choice, housing need, order of priority for dwelling allocations and transfers. He said that the intention would be that the Committee would recommend the scheme, which would then be put as an item on the Agenda for the full Council meeting in April 2022 for agreement and then to the Minister for its approval.
A McMenamin queried that there was no mention in the scheme of change in circumstances and he asked how persons affected by domestic violence were dealt with. He said that in some cases there would be an urgent need for them to leave the property. J Murphy replied that persons affected by domestic violence would have to apply for inclusion on the housing list in the normal way. He said that under this scheme if they were in a homeless situation, they would be treated with priority similar to other homeless persons.
Following a query from P Black regarding the speeding up of applications from persons experiencing domestic violence,
C McManus informed the meeting that such applications received were treated with priority and the Council liased with the applicant for any information outstanding instead of returning the application to them.
J Molloy stated that the Department were rolling out an online system whereby people can go online and find out what services are available for persons experiencing domestic violence.
Councillor Bree thanked J Murphy for the report and for responding positively to the suggestions and recommendations that he made in regard to the Draft Housing Allocation Scheme
Councillor O’Boyle complimented the Council on the manner in which they dealt with housing applications from persons affected by domestic violence. He also queried succession of tenancy in the draft scheme and in reply J Murphy said that a person must be on the Council’s housing list to get a tenancy.
It was then proposed by Councillor Gibbons
Seconded by Councillor O’Boyle
AND AGREED that the draft housing allocation scheme be recommended for adoption by the Members of Sligo County Council at their April Meeting.
END OF MEETING:
The business of the meeting concluded at 12 noon.
Meeting Date 08/03/2022