Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, T.D. was in Wexford to perform the official opening of the first phase of a new social housing project at Whiterock Hill, in Wexford Town. The Minister was accompanied by the Cllr. Pip Breen, Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Mr. Eddie Taaffe, Chief Executive of WCC, Deputy Johnny Mythen TD, local public representatives, senior housing officials from Wexford County Council and representatives of the contractor team, as he met with some of the new residents.
In welcoming the Minister to Wexford, Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Cllr. Pip Breen said : ‘I am delighted to welcome you here today at Ard na Gaoithe. Building communities, rather than just building housing estates, is what we want to achieve for County Wexford. Today’s launch of the first phase of Ard na Gaoithe housing scheme is a fantastic example of Wexford County Councils housing delivery ambition.
We want to thank the housing design and delivery team of Wexford County Council and in particular our project delivery partner Bawn Developments for their excellent work on this unique project. I want to congratulate everyone involved in the delivery of the project to date and I look forward to the completion of this and many more housing schemes across county Wexford.
The sod has been turned on an affordable housing development in Ramsfort Park, Gorey, Co. Wexford, which when complete will provide 20 new affordable homes to the Gorey area.
Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Cllr. Pip Breen joined the Chairman of the Gorey/Kilmuckridge District, Councillor Oliver Walsh, Senator Malcolm Byrne, Chief Executive of Wexford County Council, Eddie Taaffe, and officials from Wexford County Council last week to turn the sod at the new development.
The affordable housing scheme, which is being constructed by Mythen Construction in partnership with Wexford County Council, will provide new homes for sale via Wexford County Council’s ‘Local Authority Affordable Purchase’ scheme.
Ramsfort Park (Radharc na Beannóige), will be the first affordable housing scheme for County Wexford with funding secured to develop this pilot project via the Affordable Housing Fund under the Governments ‘Housing for All’ Programme and will make homes available at a reduced price for buyers who are seeking to purchase a newly built home but need to bridge the gap between their mortgage and deposit to cover the full price of the home.
Speaking at the event, Cllr. Pip Breen, Cathaoirleach of Wexford Council, stated, ‘The beginning of construction of this pilot affordable housing project in the county, led by Wexford County Council, sees the construction of 20 A Rated, Energy Efficient homes to be available to private purchasers, to build their own new community here in Gorey’.
The scheme is due to be advertised for applications early in the new year, with the delivery of the units scheduled for 2025. For further information, please contact affordablehousing@wexfordcoco.ie
The Ramsfort Park event in addition to social housing schemes in Creagh and Whiterock Hill were part of series of official housing events scheduled with the Housing Minister, who due to unforeseen circumstances was unable to attend on the day, to highlight a selection of ongoing projects across the county.
Commenting afterwards Minister O’Brien stated, ‘’I’m delighted by the progress across social and affordable housing developments in the Gorey and Wexford town. More than 80 much needed homes are being delivered on these three sites alone and thankfully we are seeing this happen at scale now both here in Wexford and across the country. Mixed-tenure sites with state-of-the-art homes boost the quality of life of residents everywhere and I want to congratulate Wexford County Council on bringing them to fruition.
“It’s clear to see, through the hard work of our local authorities we are delivering in Wexford – as we are, under Housing for All, throughout the country. Supply which is key to addressing our housing needs is increasing in Wexford with a robust stock of new housing is in the pipeline. The latest figures show that in the first seven months of this year, a total of 786 new homes were commenced an increase of 52% on the same period last year.”
This was echoed by the Chief Executive, Eddie Taaffe, ‘Housing is at the very forefront of Wexford County Council’s objectives. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of everyone involved in these outstanding projects. Wexford County Council will continue to develop and deliver our shared housing ambition for county Wexford.”
