A NORTHSIDE councillor is proposing a plan that would see residential estates in Fingal provided with new funding over the next five years to tackle local issues.
Cllr Darragh Butler (FF), who will contest the Swords ward in the local elections on May 23, is calling for 10 per cent of the Local Property Tax (LPT) in each estate or road to be ring-fenced for essential work that is required in each area.
Under the plan, key local issues such as poor lighting, removal of prominent graffiti, addressing potholes and road maintenance, tackling anti-social behaviour in alleyways, the upkeep of green areas and social housing in each estate would be identified as areas to be tackled by this funding.
Cllr Butler said the scheme would enable local residents’ committees across Fingal to apply for funding to outline the key issues in their area that need to be tackled.
“It would include the likely cost, the proposed suppliers subject to a tender process and the feedback from local residents on why they want these issues tackled,
? he stated.
“In real terms, this would be a localised capital programme for residential estates similar to the Sports Capital Grant Scheme but at a local level.
“It would address problems which residents’ associations tackle or do not have funding for at the moment from Fingal County Council.
“It would also empower these voluntary committees to develop and better their own areas rather than depending on the county council.
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Cllr Butler said the basic premise of the plan is that the substantial property tax, which these estates will be paying in 2014, should be used to service the very areas it is collected from.
“Fingal has one of the highest LPT compliance rates in the country and as a result we should see a greater pay-back and reward to Fingal residents as a result of this,
? he stated.
“I believe that we need to look at politics at every level in a different way and approach what we as public representatives want to achieve in a different way.
“People need to be empowered to get the issues that affect them tackled and I believe that a scheme like this would be a good first step in getting the people and issues that matter to them addressed.
“It is supposed to be a
‘local’ property tax after all as named by the current Government, so we want to finally see some local benefits in the area where it is collected.
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Cllr Butler said he doesn’t want to see the money end up going into one big countrywide pot that the Government gets to allocate.
“If it is supposed to be a local tax then we want to see it being spent locally and benefiting local communities where it is raised, which was the original promise,
? he added.