BY CONOR SHARKEY

RESIDENTS of a Strabane housing estate said this week they are sceptical about the Housing Executive's decision to sell off a number of properties in the area which have repeatedly been targetted by arsonists.

In May this year, Ann Graham and her daughters Noeleen and Emma threatened legal action against the Housing Executive if they did not act by either demolishing or renovating four houses close to their homes in Springhill Park. The family said they were living in fear after the derelict properties had been set on fire for a third time in two years.

Instead of pulling the vacant buildings down however, the Housing Executive recently put them on the market.

While the Graham family have given a cautious welcome to the move, Ann Graham told the Strabane Chronicle she isn't convinced the sale of the houses will make any difference.

"When we spoke to the Housing Executive in June about this, one of the options put to us was that the houses could be sold.

"But the question has to be now, how long will the sale take and whose to say whoever purchases them doesn't just leave them the way they are for another six years," she asked.

"We haven't had any trouble with children getting into these houses recently because they are well boarded up, but whoever buys them would need to do a lot of work to them. So, they could stay on the market for a while, and that is what is worrying us.

"We wouldn't be prepared to wait years, not just because the children keep getting into and burning them, but because they are an eyesore. I'm glad the Housing Executive have taken this approach but if they can't sell them or they are bought and left as they are, what happens then?

"This is progress and at least it shows the Executive are taking an interest, but we won't settle until these houses are renovated and people living in them. We are happy enough that something is being done, but it all depends on where it goes from here," Mrs Graham said.