Council CPO to acquire Drumconrath garage to develop it as local community amenity
Meath County Council has been given the go ahead by an Bord Pleanala to acquire the former Doyles Garage in Drumconrath and intends to knock the derelict building and develop an amenity area to create a focal point in this part of the village.
The Council made the application to Bord Pleanala in June seeking consent to compulsorily acquire the former garage and an adjoining derelict house under the Derelict Sites Act. The property is on the Derelict Sites register in Meath since 2022.
An objection was made against the application to compulsorily acquire the site by the executors in the estate of Andrew Doyle deceased. Among the grounds they objected to the application were that the workshop at the rear of the garage was operational, that some of the lands were agricultural which is not permitted for compulsory acquisition under the Derelict Sites legislation and also that there were issues around title to be resolved.
The Pleanala inspector noted that on the day of inspection, the windows were boarded up or missing, that the timber used to board up windows was rotten and disintegrating, glass panes on the door were missing or broken, the facade was dirty, paint was chipped and peeling on the facade and doors and the roof had collapsed in on the garage. Litter and debris were found in the site and on the public footpath and the adjoining grass area was overgrown and unkempt.
The planning inspector recommended that the application be granted.
When it went to the board meeting for consideration, the board decided by a majority of two to one to make a split decision and while it gave consent for the majority of the site to be acquired, it considered that the objection in relation to adjacent land could be sustained and did not come within the definition of derelict site.
Local councillor Eugene Cassidy welcomed An Bord Pleanala's ruling that the council can proceed with the process of compulsory acquiring the derelict garage.
Cllr Cassidy said: “Meath Co Council started the process last June but an appeal was lodged which put the process on hold.
The decision just before Christmas which found in Meath Co Council's favour means that the council can resume this process which will take six weeks to complete when the council restarts the process in January. So by the end of February the garage and old house will be in Meath Co Council's possession.”
He added that once the property is in its possession, the council intends to appoint a contractor to level the old garage for now and that an architect is in the process of being appointed to draw up plans to turn this in to an amenity/recreational area in the village.
“The house which is a listed building will be restored for community use. A part 8 planning process will start where residents will have their say on what they want to see in the centre of their village. I have impressed on Meath County Council that a playground is a must here and they are in agreement with me on this.
“I have been working on this for 12 months now and we still have a long road ahead with many hurdles to cross to get this to something we can be proud of in the heart of Drumconrath.”
However, Cllr Michael Gallagher says he wants to see the majority of the site used for housing and is not in favour of it all being used as a recreational or amenity area.
“Residential land is very scarce in Drumconrath and I was hoping that part of that site could be used for affordable housing. It is zoned residential and I would have serious problems rezoning it as community. The council already has two sites that it can't build on as they are too elevated and this would be an ideal site for residential,” said Cllr Gallagher.
“There is no residential development taking place in the village. All the young people from Drumconrath are going to Ardee, Carrickmacross and Kingscourt as there are no houses available to purchase in Drumconrath at low cost,” he added.