Castledermot residents angry at unfinished housing estate

RESIDENTS of a Castledermot housing estate have expressed their anger and frustration at Kildare Co Council over the unfinished condition of their estate. Despite the fact that the estate is fully occupied, the residents have decided enough is enough and want to raise the issue publicly in an attempt to elicit action from the local authority.

The Friary estate development began in 2005 but was left in an incomplete state in 2008 when the developer went into receivership. It had been expected for a number of years that the council would take the estate in charge, but this has not happened yet.

In 2024, funding of €4.2 million was secured and allocated by Kildare Co Council to complete 14 unfinished homes and two additional social homes in the estate. The estate has been fully occupied since March 2025, with the last 14 units occupied by social housing tenants since then.

Miriam Harvey and her husband bought their home in the estate in 2006. She contacted The Nationalist recently as a spokesperson for the committee of residents who are “asking for accountability, transparency and a clear timeline for the completion of outstanding works”.

She said: “As per the site resolution plan, we were told as residents and property owners that once the estate was fully occupied, it would be taken over by Kildare Co Council and works would be completed to finish the estate.” 

The primary concern of the residents is that there is a significant issue with potholes and uneven surfaces on roads and footpaths in the estate.

There are also a number of other issues. There is a derelict field between the road that Ms Harvey lives on and the nearby Scoil Diarmada, the local primary school. She explained that the field was intended to be the site of phase 3 of housing development in the estate, but it was unable to proceed due to the site being on a floodplain. The estate, as it currently stands, is already susceptible to heavy flooding.

Ms Harvey believes that the field is being used by local youths for anti-social behaviour.

There is a second, smaller green space in the estate that has been left unkept and undeveloped with a broken fence separating it from the street. In addition, the green area for children to play in one part of the estate is deemed unsafe by residents. There is also no sign with the estate’s name on it at the front of the development.

Asked about the impact of all of this on the residents, Ms Harvey said: “I’m angry with Kildare Co Council because I feel, in general, in the county there’s money being put into things that don’t really need it versus looking after residents in an estate, so that’s how I feel. It’s disheartening and angry. I’m angry as well, as are all the other residents.” 

Ms Harvey said she is paying a high mortgage and that her property tax has increased since last month.

On her and her fellow residents’ communication with the council, she said: “The issue at the moment is they came out last May to take photos and mark areas and that, and the staff member has since moved roles and there’s a personnel issue in the council now. They’re saying there’s no-one to take over the role. Before that, they were saying there’s not enough money in the bond to finish the estate. So, it’s constantly making excuses, constantly fobbing us off, and nothing’s been done.” 

Ms Harvey also made the point that the increased number of vehicles in the estate since the arrival of new residents last year has only made the roads worse, adding insult to injury, considering that the council promised the estate would be finished once it became fully occupied.

In June of last year, Kildare Co Council issued a taking-in-charge report for the estate.

In January, it gave an update outlining that work on the unfinished estate is set to go to tender, with further progress on the estate being subject to the availability of staff resources, with the local authority being short of an engineer for the project.

There was no update on the estate itself at last month’s Athy Municipal District meeting, but Kildare Co Council said that the municipal district is looking into works on the footpath from Pike Cross, Upper Main Street down to the estate as part of the Castledermot masterplan.