Minutes of Council meetings- list.:

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE OF COBH TOWN COUNCIL, HELD AT CARRIG HOUSE, COBH, ON MONDAY 15th JANUARY, 2007.

Presiding - Cllr. N. Doyle

Present - Councillors S. Meade, P. Histon, K. McCarthy, P. Whitty, S. O’Connor and D. Crowley.

OFFICIALS PRESENT 
Ms. M. O’Halloran – Town Manager
Mr. P. Lynch – Town Clerk

An apology for their inability to attend was received from Cllrs J. Mulvihill and M Keating.

The meeting commenced with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Cllr. Doyle advised the members that Cllr. Mulvihill was unable to attend due to illness. All of the members expressed their best wishes for Cllr. Mulvihill.

1. REPORT OF THE HOUSING SUB-COMMITTEE

The Manager stated that she appreciated the good work put into the report by all of the members of the sub-committee. She stated that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the City and County Managers’ Association were currently looking at the possibility of introducing a national system for assessing applications and allocating tenancies. She advised the members that the South Cork (Rural) Housing Department of Cork County Council had previously advised that in the event of Cobh Town Council adopting a system for assessing housing allocations which was fundamentally different from the system used by all the other Housing Authorities in the area, they would not be in a position to provide staff to carry out assessments.

Cllr. McCarthy stated that the new national system referred to by the manager would result in further powers being taken away from local authorities. The Manager stated that the new system would take account of the various housing options currently being offered by local authorities. These included social housing, affordable housing, shared ownership, Part V of the Planning & Development Act, as well as the new Rental Accommodation Scheme currently being rolled out throughout the country. The first requirement of any housing authority under the national scheme would be to decide which of the housing options available was most suitable.

Cllr. McCarthy stated that the view of the sub-committee was that Cobh Town Council should decide now which system it wished to use rather than wait for a national scheme which may not be implemented for a number of years. Cllr. O’Connor stated that the sub-committee had put a lot of work into its report, and had considered the allocation schemes in place in a large number of housing authorities. His view was that the scheme being proposed was more transparent and accountable and he recommended its adoption.

Cllr. Whitty stated that the issue of a points system had been considered by the County Council Strategic Policy Committee of which he was a member and that it had recommended the introduction of such a scheme. The Manager stated that Cork County Council had referred the issue to the Western Division SPC for consideration and that they had recommended against a points system for the County Council. This policy had been adopted by the full County Council.

Cllr,. Whitty stated that the members of the sub-committee were unanimously in favour of adopting a points system. He stated that the Council should adopt the scheme prepared by the sub-committee and refer it to the Minister for approval. If Cork County Council did not have sufficient staff to assess housing applicants using the system, an application for extra staff should be made to the Department by the Council.

Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Whitty, proposed adoption of the scheme as prepared by the sub-committee.

The Manager stated that she had serious concerns that the scheme as prepared had serious flaws and that she would recommend a number of amendments. Cllr. O’Connor, seconded by Cllr. Meade, proposed that the matter be deferred to allow the Manager to propose the amendments to the sub-committee. It was agreed that the Manager would incorporate her amendments into the scheme and circulate to the members of the sub-committee as soon as possible. It was also agreed that the Town Clerk would arrange for a further meeting of the sub-committee at the earliest possible date to allow for consideration of any amendments proposed by the Manager.

It was agreed that the Council would meet in committee on Monday 12 February, 2007 at 5.00 p.m. to discuss the matter further.

This concluded the business of the meeting.

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CATHAOIRLEACH

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TOWN CLERK

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