News and information for residents of Ashefield, Mullingar, Ireland
Conor, an Ashefield resident, got in touch with Westmeath County Council regarding the litter problem on Ashe Road near the estate entrance and green area. Their response was:
I refer to your letter re the above and wish to advise that Mullingar Area Office will seek to erect a new bin at the pedestrian crossing on Ashe Road near Tesco entrance.
This will hopefully help to reduce the litter dumped over the wall into the green area. Thanks, Conor!
The next Ashefield residents’ association meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 7, 2011 from 8pm in the Newbury Hotel, Mullingar.
Every resident is invited to attend, contribute ideas, highlight problems, and have an important say in the management of the estate. The committee comprises ordinary residents from the estate who volunteer their time and expertise for free. If you might be considering getting more involved, this would be an ideal opportunity to do so.
The draft agenda is as follows.
More items for the agenda are encouraged. Feel free to use the comments area below or send an email to info@165.227.235.101.
The next census will take place on the night of Sunday April 10, 2011 and will count all the people and households in the country on that night. The census enumerator is currently delivering census forms to each household in Ashefield.
A report was received that local children using a wall close to houses near the front of the estate for football have damaged a house window and regularly hit cars with the balls also . Despite different groups having been asked on numerous occasions by local residents to use one of the green areas instead, they refuse to.
In one recent case, a resident witnessed a ball cracking the front window of a house and setting off the alarm. 
One solution is to ask parents to encourage their children not to play in the middle of the street and to use the green areas for ball games instead (and under supervision for safety purposes). In addition to the potential for further damage to property, there exists a real danger of an incident involving a moving car given that is the busiest point of the estate in terms of traffic. This problem has been noted for a future residents’ association meeting.
In the meantime, if you have any suggestions, please use the comments area below. In an effort to combat spam and hoax comments, comments may not appear immediately but will appear when approved by a moderator.
Westmeath Co. Co. issued a water supply update for Westmeath just after 4pm today, which was quickly updated by the current notice released at 5pm. Despite the plan to continue the water restrictions, the evening shut-off time has been extended to 9pm . This, no doubt, should be a relief to those of you who returned to work today and may have a distance to travel.
• Tuesday night / Wednesday morning – Tuesday 4th January /Wednesday 5th January, 9.00pm to 9.00 am
All water consumers are advised that nightly water supply restrictions will continue in order to replenish water levels in Council reservoirs for the next 5 nights.
Standpipes throughout the Mullingar Area have been withdrawn today, Tuesday due to the improvement in supply.
Last night and early this morning, we emailed our local Mullingar West councilors Robert Troy and Ken Glynn in addition to Westmeath Co. Co. The emails asked for help by postponing the shut-off times until 10pm in order to allow the commuting workers in our local area a chance to get home and to use mains-fed showers, cook, and wash before the water is switched off. These messages were followed up by more phone calls to the council today.
Update [06-Jan]: Robert Troy contacted me to say he talked to the council about the water. Thanks for that, Robert.
From Westmeath Co. Co.’s latest water supply update:
In order to restore reservoir levels & to ensure that all parts of the county have a water supply tomorrow, Thursday, the Council will implement a series of planned service shut offs to ALL WATER SUPPLIES throughout Co. Westmeath tonight [Tues 28th], Wednesday, & Thursday morning.
This service shut off is currently affecting Ashefield.
Several houses and whole streets are reporting no mains water still. Added to this problem, the thaw is resulting in leaking stop valves caused by frost damage. So far, Westmeath Co. Co. has been notified of leaking stop valves outside #120, Apt. 18, and #203.
Update [03-Jan]: A leak outside #119 was reported and repaired within the same day.
If you spot any others, contact the council at 044 9332000. They have a long list of reported leakages so it’s unknown when the leaks will be fixed. After reporting them to the council, please add any other leaking stop valve locations by commenting below so we can mark them off the ‘to-report’ list.
[Update : 29/12] All of the reported leaks within Ashefield appear to have been fixed.
Happy Christmas residents and visitors!
Some homes are reporting frozen water supplies unfortunately. Westmeath County Council’s latest advisory states:
Westmeath County Council is maintaining an uninterrupted water supply to all its customers, however due to the unprecedented cold spell many householders are experiencing problems due to frozen water pipes. No shut offs of water mains have taken place & water is not frozen in public water mains.
Please contact a plumber before attempting to defrost frozen pipes.
If your water supply has frozen you should
NB – Water from Standpipes should be boiled before consumption
Westmeath County Council has provided & installed approximately 38 standpipes located throughout the county to ensure that members of the public have access to water supplies.
The closest standpipe to us is Raithin – at the entrance to estate. If several houses are affected, let us know by commenting below or emailing info @ ashefield.com and we’ll ask the council to open the standpipe close to the entrance of the estate, which was used last year.
Hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas and we look forward to your input and news in the year ahead.
Late on Friday night/ early Saturday morning, the fire brigade and gardaí attended a house fire in Ashefield. The house was recently vacated by tenants so was unoccupied and empty at the time. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the cause of the fire may have been an electrical fault close to the front entrance, which appears to have caused extensive smoke damage throughout the building.
The gardaí are monitoring the house until it can be made safe.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing dense black smoke clouds from this fire; it serves as a stark reminder of the importance to install and regularly check that your smoke alarms are in working order. Learn more about how to keep your home and your family safe from fire.
It’s difficult not to notice that the wall between the estate main entrance road and apartments is deteriorating. This wall runs between the block of apartments and main estate along the main estate entrance road. However, due to its location, it has been unclear who is responsible for the upkeep of this wall.
Members of Ashefield’s residents’ committee contacted Westmeath County Council about this. The main aims here were to clarify who is responsible for the maintenance of this wall and to try and get the problems fixed. The key questions raised, and responses received from the council are:
Q. For some time now, we have been observing the slow but seemingly inexorable descent into decrepitude of the low boundary wall between the apartments and the estate proper. There doesn’t seem to be anyone taking responsibility for the condition of this wall.
A. The boundary walls of an Estate become the responsibility of the residents once an Estate has been Taken in Charge and are the responsibility of the residents/Management company (whichever is applicable) of any apartments from the date of first occupancy/formation of Management Company. (Reference Westmeath County Council’s “Guidelines for Purchasers in Residential Developments” Policy)
Q. The original planning permission (97/655) had a condition (#30) that a management company was to be established to look after the maintenance of the apartments and common areas. This led to the registration of a company called Minkridge Management Company Limited in March/April 2001. Looking up this company on www.cro.ie I find that its status is recorded as “dissolved” with an effective date of June 2002. It seems clear that this company was never intended to actually perform the maintenance role and was a mere artifice in the successful attempt by Fernside Homes Ltd. to gain planning permission.
A. Condition 30 of Planning Reference 97/655 has been complied with by the Developer in 2001 in that the Management Company was set up for the maintenance of the apartments
Q. Are there separate planning references (presumably with attached conditions) for the different phases of the scheme’s development?
A. The only main Planning Reference for this Development appears to be Ref. 97/655, however you can come into our offices and request a Planning Search and ask to view the Planning Files.
Q. The planning reference only seems to cover Apts. 10-26 (there is no Apt. #13). There is an additional block of apartments (27-30) for which I don’t have a separate planning reference. Is there a separate planning permission for #27-30? Are there any conditions related to a management company?
A. I am not aware of a separate Planning Reference for apartments 27-30, however, you can view Planning File Ref. 97/655 in this regard.
Q. It is my understanding that the council endeavors to ensure that all conditions on planning permissions are satisfied prior to taking an estate in charge. I gather that the council doesn’t take apartment developments in charge, but can your enforcement section offer any input here? It would seem like the lack of a management company would have been evident when the council took the estate in charge?
A. At the time that the Estate was being Taken in Charge, the Apartments would not have been taken into consideration as they were not being Taken in Charge.