Unsightly rubbish, barking dogs and ASB incidents are significant problems in North Tipp estates

A RECENT meeting was told that unsightly rubbish, barking dogs and anti-social behaviour incidents are significant problems in a number of housing estates in North Tipperary.
The problems were discussed during a presentation by a number of Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) for Tipperary which was given to the councillors of Nenagh Municipal District during the meeting.
The CLOs covering the Nenagh Municipal District are Lindsay Cleary (who covers Nenagh, Borrisokane and surrounding rural villages), and Helen Butler (who covers Newport, Rearcross, Silvermines and Kilcommon). Lindsay and Helen are based in the Tipperary County Council offices in Nenagh.
They told the meeting that the CLO has an integral and substantial role in the “active and positive management” of the Council's tenants and the Council's housing stock, which includes:
Investigating and dealing with anti-social behaviour issues; organising and implementing pre-tenancy training; working with vulnerable tenants; administering the Second Chance Programme; Estate Management:– establishing Residents Associations, Resident Networks and Community Houses; liaising with other sections of the Council, outside agencies, in promoting better estate management.
“Tipperary County Council,” said Lindsay, “acknowledges that anti-social behaviour has a seriously negative impact on the lives of people. We are committed to promoting a safe and secure environment for our residents.”
She said complaints about incidents of anti-social behaviour can be made by telephone, in writing or by email “and are entered on our confidential complaints system. All complaints should be made via the Customer Service Desk of the Council. Anonymous complaints are not accepted.
“We verbally warn the offending tenant; then send a written warning. If the tenant refuses to engage then we proceed to repossession of the property. We will only seek to recover possession of a property as a last resort where all other options have been exhausted." She said the Council only undertook three repossessions in the whole of Tipperary last year for anti-social behaviour. "There have only been five injunction cases in 2022 resulting in court orders requiring tenants to remove unauthorised structures, poultry and dogs.”
From January 1st 2022 to September 30th there were 64 anti social behaviour complaints in Nenagh MD. Over the same period there were 142 ASB complaints in the Templemore/Thurles MD.
“Tipperary County Council has a number of vulnerable tenants,” continued Lindsay. “Vulnerable tenants include tenants that are elderly, those with ill-health, mental health, disabled, those who are socially isolated and those that are deficient in Home Life skills. CLOs help these tenants to sustain their tenancies and to minimise instances of tenancy breakdown. CLOs are also involved in any cases of rent arrears with vulnerable tenants.
“To complement the role of the CLO, the Council operates a Tenancy Sustainment Service (TSS) which has two project workers with a caseload of approximately 40 countywide. This service provides support to tenants that are at risk of losing their tenancy through a shared care model to prevent them from entering homelessness.”
The Council's Second Chance Programme links applicants or existing tenants that may struggle to sustain a tenancy, or tenants at risk of losing a tenancy, into relevant support services.
The Council carried out inspections of 29 properties out of 321 in Nenagh MD during 2022.
“The last thing we want to do,” one of the CLOs told the councillors, “is to take possession of a property from a tenant, because that creates other issues.”
She said illegal occupancy, where a friend or relative is living with the tenant, is a common problem.
Uncollected rubbish and animal issues are two other big problems in the estates. Tenants need to apply for permission to the Council to get a dog.
Another problem is quite a few tenants are living alone and are socially isolated.
Cllr Hughie McGrath, Cathaoirleach, said children often move back into their family home to care for their elderly parents. Cllr McGrath added that Resident Associations are very important. “They can be the eyes and the ears of a housing estate, and let us know if there are any issues.”
He added that “people are awful afraid of certain types of dogs, and rightly so, but I wouldn't think it would be right to have no dogs in an estate. They can be mentally and physically good for the tenants.” He reminisced that where he grew up a local person used to walk his pet badger!
Cllr John Carroll commented that people are “very stressed out because of the housing situation in general and my heart goes out to them. In the current climate you feel fortunate to have a house of your own.”
He said “we come across anti-social behaviour on a regular basis, such as bad treatment of the properties. We need to adopt a zero tolerance attitude with this issue.
“The irritation of dogs regularly barking is another common problem in the estates. This could be happening because the dogs are not being exercised enough. It can be stressful for people if dogs are continuously barking late into the night.
“Caravans being illegally parked on areas adjacent to houses sometimes happens, causing issues, as well.”
Cllr Ger Darcy pointed out that the vast majority of tenants are very good tenants, are conscious of their neighbours, go about their daily lives and cause no difficulties with anyone. “However there is a minority out there who can be very troublesome. I know of some cases where neighbours would be afraid to report other troublesome tenants because they are worried what they might do.”
Cllr Joe Hannigan pointed out that the CLOs are only looking after the social housing tenancies. He said there are no CLOs overseeing the Housing Assistance Payment programme. “The fact there is no one overseeing HAP in the same way is a massive problem,” he remarked. “That's one of the reasons why some landlords are reluctant to engage with the HAP scheme.” Cllr Phyll Bugler agreed, adding that dog fouling is a big problem in some estates.
Cllr Rocky McGrath said the CLOs are remarkably busy. He said failure to dispose of waste is a problem he often comes across in the estates. “Some of these people you just can't change them. There's nothing as hazardous to health and as disgusting as waste just lying around in the vicinity of houses. There's a lot of illegal dumping going on at night time. I've seen garages packed to their ceilings with rubbish that should have been sent to the dump but wasn't.”
Cllr Michael O'Meara said he is in contact with the housing department of the Council on a daily basis “and I don't envy them their job. There is a great team of people in the housing department. It is an extremely difficult and stressful job.
“We have a high number of void properties in our housing estates,” Cllr O'Meara continued, “and I am very frustrated that this problem has been going on so long and we can't seem to get on top of it.”
One of the CLOs told Cllr Hughie McGrath that if children move back into the properties to look after their elderly parents then it's very important that they engage with the Council and tell them about it. If they do so, the Council will deal positively with them and it will stop any problems rising further down the line.
She added that when it comes to Residents Associations, Roscrea and Thurles are in a relatively healthy position. “I am trying to get other towns in the county up to a similarly healthy position.
“Regarding Gort na Chlochair housing estate in Borrisokane, we recently had a meeting with the residents. The meeting took place in Silver Arch Family Resource Centre, Borrisokane. Eight people turned up, which was more than I expected. Four of them told us that they are already regularly cutting the grass in the estate. I am currently working with them to form a Residents Association.” She pointed out that the CLOs “don't have a remit to set up Residents Associations in private housing estates."
She added that she doesn't have “a zero animal policy in estates. Pets are part and parcel of the family. We don't have a limit on the number of dogs allowed. There is a list of restricted breeds which tenants need to comply with. We do get some reports of some people having far too many dogs and sometimes the ISPCA has to be called out."
Cllr Hughie McGrath said tenants sometimes go to the councillors first, rather than to the Gardaí, to try and deal with problems. “The tenants know us. They are familiar with us. They trust us.”
Cllr Michael O'Meara pointed out there are 1,800 HAP tenancies in Tipperary at the moment. He said three or four houses were recently retrofitted in the Lorrha/Rathcabbin area under Just Transition funding. “I would like to see a lot more of this. A lot of people in this part of North Tipperary worked in Bord na Móna and they should benefit from Just Transition funding just as much as Offaly people. The Just Transition funding will be massive. It will be €108 million. It's definitely something we should push.”
Cllr Joe Hannigan said the Croí Conaithe initiative has been extended to rural areas, which is a major plus. This is a significant funding scheme for vacant and derelict properties.