Modular homes being installed on Offaly site for Ukrainian refugees

WORK on the installation of 62 modular homes in Tullamore for Ukrainian refugees is continuing.

Some of the homes have already been put in place and others have arrived and are lined up for transfer into their individual sites.

The work is being carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW) on land off the main Portlaoise road close to Clonminch Lane, where a number of residents raised serious concerns about lack of consultation.

Of the 62 homes, 16 will be directly behind four of the houses on Clonminch Lane. A perimeter wall is to be built around the modular homes to separate the site from Clonminch Lane.

The wall “will protect privacy on both sides, increase security and reduce noise levels,” a spokesperson for the residents of Clonminch Lane, Frank O'Reilly told the Tullamore Tribune in May.

The wall will be constructed on Offaly County Council property beyond the boundaries of the homes on Clonminch Lane and existing hedgerows and trees will remain intact.

The OPW also stated it will plant semi-mature trees on the council side of the wall.

Mr O'Reilly condemned the construction of the modular homes adjacent to Clonminch Lane without the residents of the area being notified in advance as an “appalling invasion of privacy”.

“I woke up on Monday, April 17 to the sound of construction equipment on the land directly behind our homes,” he said.

Councillors hit out at the lack of consultation with Clonminch residents when the Tullamore Municipal District met in May.

The Tullamore houses are part of a Government approved modular home project which will see 700 homes built and completed throughout the country by this summer.

Each unit measures in the region of 45 square metres in area and costs approximately €145,000 to construct.

The homes will include a kitchen-dining-living area combined, a bathroom, a small bedroom and a large bedroom.

A spokesperson for the OPW told the Tribune in February that the site at Clonminch was offered to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the OPW.

The site was offered as a potentially suitable one to accommodate units for families of four Ukrainian nationals per unit.

The OPW is responsible for site preparation and the acquisition and installation of the homes onto the sites.

Specific planning regulations in place for emergencies allow for the development of rapid build accommodation quickly.

However the sites can only be used for this purpose for a maximum of three years, after which a full routine planning process must take place to determine the future use of the sites.

All the sites will have roads, footpaths, street lighting and community facilities, including a play area and green spaces in line with local authority planning guidance.

The homes will be highly energy efficient, durable units with a 60-year lifespan and the development of the sites will be conducted in an environmentally sustainable way to ensure that, post development, the site will enhance the local area.