4 days ago
Incomplete structures in Kilmore Road development facing demolition
Cork City Council spent almost €2.5m on a controversial and unfinished 24-house development on the city's northside, but it is unclear how many of the incomplete structures are now being demolished.
In March 2020, a private contractor began work on 24 houses on Kilmore Rd in Knocknaheeny before work ground to a halt a few months later in what Cork City Council described as 'a complex contractual dispute'.
The houses were being built under phase 2c of the Cork Northwest Quarter Regeneration (CNWQR) project, a huge multi-annual, phased regeneration project which began in the Knocknaheeny and Hollyhill area more than a decade ago.
The CNWQR, adopted by the council in November 2011, involves the demolition of 450 houses and the design and construction of more than 600 new homes.
Last year, the council resolved its dispute with the Phase 2c contractors, and reissued the tender for the project, costed at an estimated €5m. Works eventually began this summer under a new contractor.
At a recent council meeting, Sinn Féin's Kenneth Collins asked the total sum paid to the original contractor and 'the percentage amount of work complete that will require demolition and the cost of this demolition'.
He was told the original contractor had been paid €2,452,317, ex Vat, in May 2024, and '0% of the works complete will require demolition'.
Rectification and completion works
Asked by the Irish Examiner how this claim squared with photographic evidence of current demolition work, a council spokesperson clarified that the council had engaged a contractor to undertake 'rectification and completion works on the 24-unit housing development at Kilmore Road Lower".
'These works include the demolition and taking down of incomplete works.
'Works that have been certified as complete which were undertaken by the initial contractor do not require demolition,' they said.
When asked how much of the development was not certified as complete, a spokesperson admitted that, in fact, none of the 24 homes had been completed by the original contractor.
'Zero homes are certified as complete,' the spokesperson said.
'We are still within a construction contract and practical completion of the contract has not been reached.'
In a subsequent email, they said not all of the initial works were being demolished but they did not immediately respond when asked how many of the buildings were being retained.
Almost two weeks after his initial question, Mr Collins said he was again asking how much of the original work was being demolished.
'I can't understand why we can't get a straight answer, but first we're told 0% required demolition, then they say it's 0% of completed buildings and now they say none of the buildings were completed, but some aren't being demolished,' he said.
So how many of the buildings are being demolished? Why can't the council answer a simple question?
'This is a long running saga. The people of Knocknaheeny want these homes built.
'They've lived opposite and beside a building site for years on end. The council have broken commitment after commitment when it came to this site.
In its most recent statement, a council spokesperson said: 'Works undertaken by the initial contractor would have constituted approximately 55% of the project.
'The new contractor is now at approximately 60% (plus c5% on the initial signed off works) completion overall as they have recently commenced.
'As per previous all works signed off in that approximately 55% are to be retained. A minor percentage of works not signed off were not retained.'
