Social housing scheme for Wexford remains at standstill 18 months on – ‘It's not being built, there aren't even plans available'

Irish Independent

4 days ago

In November 2023 then Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien revealed that the Bunclody development was to be 'bundled' with five other schemes in Dublin, Limerick, and Galway. Due to deliver 642 houses across six sites, the project remains in the pre-procurement phase as of July 2025 and, at the monthly meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor Barbara Anne Murphy asked why it had not proceeded any further.
'That residential zoned land isn't being developed despite there being a huge need for houses in Bunclody and a huge need for people to buy their own homes,' she said following a presentation on Wexford's County Development Plan.
Critical of that plan and the suggestion Wexford was meeting its housing targets across the county, Cllr Murphy said the situation in Bunclody was not unique.
'There are plans to build 65 houses on Hospital Hill, but we have had those plans for I don't know how long. If this is happening in other places too, then our County Development Plan (CDP) isn't working. If you live in Bunclody you can't just buy a site and build on it, you won't get planning permission to build in a rural area (under the CDP),.
"You can't build in rural areas and you can't buy or rent a house in Bunclody itself, so it's clear to me the CDP isn't working, it's certainly not working for Bunclody.'
In response, senior planner Diarmuid Heuston said there were 'obstacles' to overcome when it came to delivering new builds in the county's villages.
'There are proposals in place (for new developments), we have to work our way through them, but there are a lot of obstacles we have to overcome,' he said. 'We do have wastewater capacity in the villages, and they are very important in terms of delivering housing, but there are delays in some of those villages. We need the developers to come forward.
"But we will keep an eye on how things are going there and continue to have discussions with you on it.'
He was supported by chief executive Eddie Taaffe who said the council was focusing on finding developers to build on the sites which had already been earmarked for housing.
'The issue in Bunclody is the sites which have been zoned have not been developed yet,' he said. 'The solution isn't to zone more land, it's to gain an understanding as to why those sites aren't being brought forward by the people who own them or not being sold to developers.'
Accepting that, in terms of its overall figures, Co Wexford was meeting the targets set out under the government's Housing For All plan, Cllr Murphy said those targets were primarily being met in the county's urban areas.
'We're not meeting the need throughout the county, and Bunclody is an example of that. We can talk about how we're going to work with developers, land owners and so on, but how long is that going to take? We have a housing crisis right now. We have land in the ownership of the state which is not being built on, there's not even plans available.
"Imagine how frustrated people who have earned enough to get a mortgage but can't buy or build in their own area are.'
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.