An emergency meeting of Sligo Corporation is to take place next Monday over conditions in a housing estate which was left unfinished by a private developer more than 20 years ago.
A lengthy legal battle is ongoing between the corporation and the developer but residents say they cannot wait any longer for repairs to be carried out.
The roads in the Cartron Bay Estate are full of potholes, footpaths are broken, drains are regularly blocked and raw sewage has at times leaked on to the streets.
Residents say their children's lives are at risk because motorists often drive along the footpaths to avoid the deep craters in the roads.
Cartron Bay Construction Ltd was ordered in a High Court injunction in June 1988 to repair the roads, footpaths, sewers and water supply facilities, but this work has not been carried out.
The estate has never been taken over by Sligo Corporation because it was found that roads and services were not completed to a satisfactory standard by the developer.
Mr John Moran, the senior staff officer for housing and planning with the corporation, said work could not be carried out while the legal case was ongoing and that Cartron Bay was still technically a private estate.
The corporation's attempts to force the developer to do the work have been complicated by the fact that the company folded at one stage. The local authority had to initiate proceedings to have the company reconstituted by the courts, which it succeeded in doing.
It is estimated that it would cost up to £500,000 to carry out all the necessary repairs. In the 1988 court ruling, Cartron Bay Construction Ltd was ordered to repair footpaths in front of 75 of the 91 houses in the estate. This work has not been done and the condition of the roads and footpaths has deteriorated since.
Members of the Cartron Bay Residents' Association are also angry because the corporation had agreed to sell land to the same developer last month.
Some 40 residents picketed a meeting of Sligo Corporation last May after it was decided at a previous meeting to sell land to the developer, which had submitted the highest tender. The decision was reversed at the May meeting.
The residents had hoped that the whole issue would have been resolved by now because the case was listed for High Court hearing over four days from June 17th. However, the case was put back until October because the judge said it was not a priority.
Mr Michael Gillespie, chairman of Cartron Bay Residents' Association, said they could not wait until then for something to be done. In wet weather the streets were flooded and on dry days there were thick clouds of dust around the estate.
"All we want is the basic right to proper roads and services and for a safe environment for our children. We want the corporation to take over the roads immediately and then let them go after the developer for the expense," he added.
Any improvement works carried out in the estate over the past 20 years were paid for by the residents. A green area with trees and scrubs in the centre of the estate was put in by residents and workers from a FAS scheme.
Mrs Maureen Feeney, a mother of three young children, said people were very concerned that a child might be knocked down by motorists driving along the footpaths. "You are more likely to see a car on the footpath than on the road. We have to teach our children not to run from the house on to the footpath because there could be a car coming.
"We are ordinary people who pay our taxes and we are paying for services we are not getting. We were gutted when the case was put back. We are not getting justice from the system," she added.
Another resident, who lives on the edge of Cartron Bay, Mr Chris Kelly, said that in times of heavy rainfall there have been floods around his door because of overflowing drains.
"I was coming down the stairs one night, and I saw this glow around the door. When I went outside I realised there was water right up to the step. Another night the water covered all the garage where I was storing furniture," he said. Four new councillors have been elected to the north ward area, which includes Cartron Bay, in the recent local elections. Newly-elected Labour councillor Ms Veronica Cawley, who called for Monday's emergency meeting, said that everybody sympathised with the residents of the estate. She said the meeting was called to see if there was some way in the present circumstances that action could be taken to help them.
It is expected that the corporation's solicitor will be present at the meeting on Monday night, and that any public discussion of the issues involved will be limited because the matter has still to be heard in court.