Council Attempts To Charge Residents Development Levies

Fine Gael TD for Wicklow, Simon Harris, is seeking immediate clarity from the Department of the Environment about Wicklow County Council's attempt to charge residents of Brook Meadow in Avoca, Wicklow, for development levies, which should have been settled by the developer of the housing estate some ten years ago.

Mr Harris said: "I have been working with the residents of Brook Meadow on this issue for the last year. It is absurd that Wicklow County Council is now attempting to extort money out of 24 residents in the housing estate for development levies that should have been paid by the developers when construction began over ten years ago.


"The fact that the County Council did not collect the development levies from the developer when construction began has nothing to do with the residents of the estate, who bought their houses from the developer. You simply cannot make someone party to an arrangement after the fact, and this is clearly the case with the residents of Brook Meadow.

"The onus is on Wicklow County Council to establish why they did not collect these levies ten years ago when they should have, and to ensure that this situation does not happen again with new housing developments in the future.

"I am urging the Department of the Environment to investigate this matter and provide immediate clarity to the residents of Brook Meadow who are being threatened with prosecution if they do not pay these levies."

(CD/GK)