RESIDENTS REAP BENEFITS FROM SLIGO’S €6M RETROFITTING SCHEME FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY HOUSING

Residents reap benefits from Sligoʼs €6m retrofitting scheme for Local Authority housing

Householders Anthony Looby and Marian Byrne pictured with Míċeál McGinty, Senior Executive Architect on the Cranmore Regeneration Project for Sligo County Council

As a design and logistical feat, Sligo County Councilʼs €6million scheme to retrofit more than 225 public and privately owned houses should be very much the envy of local authorities around the country.

Indeed, turning poorly insulated 1970s public housing into A-rated homes by removing chimneys and fireplaces, and replacing immersion systems with air-to-water heat pumps and energy efficient condensing boilers, posed a number of challenges for the organisers of the Cranmore Regeneration Project.

The homes in the Cranmore estate in Sligo town were first surveyed to identify those most in need of the works. This was followed by public consultations in which representations were made to residents and consent was sought. Alternative accommodation in the same estate was also required to house those who volunteered for the duration of the works.

There were design and structural challenges, too, with Sligo County Council not only providing the heat pump but also upgrading the very fabric of the homes – putting in ventilation, insulation and materials to prevent heat escape.

Although the original four-month timeline became protracted due to the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cranmore Regeneration Project has produced life-changing results for residents.

Marian Byrne, 68, has lived for nearly 50 years at the home in which she raised her four children and now regularly hosts her 12 grandchildren. Previously, she relied on solid fuels to heat her home, paying out more than €400 a month for coal, wooden logs and kindling which, given the porous insulation, was kept on a nearconstant burn.

A central plank of the renovation works is the removal of chimney and fireplaces to ensure maximum heat retention. While Marian admits to having felt apprehensive about the loss of her once-beloved fireplace, the increased cleanliness and decreased workload means she has no regrets. “Everything is cleaner with the fireplace gone. Life is so much easier. You get too old to be taking out ashes. My morning routine was always: have a cup of tea, take out the ashes and start dusting. But now thereʼs no dust so I have two cups of tea instead,” she says. “I used to pay about €75 a week for coal in winter. That could be €50 in the summer. I was paying about €20 a week for electricity. There would also be a €40 delivery of logs for the fire every month. On top of that, I was buying firelighters and kindling, and I was paying money to the bin company to remove the ashes. “I can get by now on €40 a week for my electricity. I was paying €20 before all this so I barely notice it. And thereʼs hot water 24/7.”

Retired firefighter Anthony Looby, 65, is also seeing the benefit of the retrofitting works in his bank balance but says the biggest difference is felt most keenly in his lungs. “Iʼm a lot healthier since this work was done and the new heating system was installed. I used to have colds and flus the whole time. Now, Iʼve nothing because thereʼs no draft, itʼs not cold at night and itʼs warm when you get up in the morning,” he says. Míċeál McGinty, Senior Executive Architect on the project for Sligo County Council, believes the reduction in burning of solid fuels around the estate is perhaps the schemeʼs biggest achievement.

“The driver of this scheme is the betterment of peoplesʼ lives and to make their environment overall a better place to live,” he says.