A LARGE SINKHOLE has appeared in the middle of a housing estate in Castleisland town, Co Kerry.
The hole appeared early yesterday morning and is currently being monitored by Kerry County Council – which has cordoned off the area.
The site of the incident is a green area in the middle of a the Cahereen Heights housing estate – close to a number of houses and a creche on the Killarney Road.
It is thought that further collapse could pose a health and safety risk.
There are varying figures for the size of the hole – although it is thought to be around 18 ft. by 10 ft. and around 20 ft. deep.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, local Fine Gael Councillor Bobby O’Connell said:
You wouldn’t want to be a geologist to figure out it wasn’t geology that caused this. It was inadequacies in the standard of work that was done in this development.
There are 99 houses in the estate of which around 70 are occupied. A number of other difficulties have occurred within the development, including issues relating to lighting, footpaths and sewage.
O’Connell believes the issue the sinkage to have happened because of the installation of tanks in the area to collect run-off water.
The estate was built as part of the bond system, where developers lodge a sum of money with the local council as insurance that an estate will be kept at a certain standard.
Cahereen Heights is a private estate built by Coolfadda Developers – which has since gone into liquidation. A bond of €1.25 million has been lodged with insurers and it is hoped that this will now be released for work to be carried out.
Kerry County Council has been in negotiations with Liberty Insurers over the past three years about the upkeep of the estate. The insurance company will be responsible for carrying out maintenance work.
The cause of the collapse is currently unknown. The Council are set to carry out an investigation as to the reason in the coming days.
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