Downturn has demolished

The downturn in the construction industry saw Westmeath County Council's income from development levies drop to an all time low in 2009, with around €3 million in levies still outstanding, it has emerged.The Council's Legal and Enforcement chief Pat Keating brought the gloomy figures before local county councillors at their recent February meeting.The levy income of €1.39 million during 2009 is in stark contrast to a receipt of €12.4 million in 2006, Mr. Keating said, presenting his latest report.Development levies received dropped by over €3 million to €9.2 million in 2007, when the economic downturn began to kick in, before plummeting to €3.7 million in 2008.But even further reduced development activity in 2009 reduced income to 38 percent of 2008 figures, or €1.39 million, or just 11 percent of those collected in 2006."In many cases, housing developments have ceased for a considerable period, with only a small section of the estates commenced," Mr. Keating said in his report. "Invoiced sums have been adjusted to reflect this, and there is currently in the order of €3 million outstanding in levies."Figures published by the Council show that enforcement-related complaints have dropped substantially on 2007 figures - 164 in 2009, as opposed to 287 three years ago.A total of 121 warning letters were issued last year (similar to 128 in 2007), with 49 enforcement notices served - a reduction of 31 over 2007 figures.Mr. Keating said that prosecution activity has been "steadily increasing", with 23 live enforcement cases going through the courts.Of these, four relate to housing estates, and a further four to development levies; sixteen of them are in the District Court, and another 7 in the Circuit or High Courts.