'Progress being made" with Kells derelict sites

Progress is being made with the 48 buildings being considered for Derelict Sites listing in Kells, local area manager Brendan McGrath told this week"s Kells Town Council meeting. Cllr Seán Drew described the worst property at Maudlin Road in the town as a 'drinks and drugs den'. Eight of the 48 properties had already been rendered 'non-derelict" said Mr McGrath, while the council is itself refurbishing three as part of the upgrading of its own housing stock. A site complained of at Magdalene Court was being finalised 'fairly quickly' while notices had been served on 13 sites, and since followed up with formal section eight (Derelict Sites registration) notices. A further 15 sites were being processed through this and he was confident that '10 or more' would be added to the register by the end of the year. The 'unwieldy and problematic' cases of seven sites which were listed buildings had been addressed by the council conservation officer, with five positive responses but none at all from the other two. He warned property-owners they could face a three per cent market value loading on their sites from January unless they tackled the dereliction problem. 'A huge amount' had happened and Kells was leading the county in addressing the dereliction problem, he said. But the Derelict Sites Act followed a 'quasi-judicial' procedure which had to be rigidly complied with and he would not comment on individual cases. He did receive representations from some owners but these could only be considered within the procedures of the Act, added Mr McGrath. 'A lot has happened and nothing has happened,' said Cllr Bryan Reilly. The three per cent compound tax on listed buildings did not seem to worry owners and he asked whether compulsory purchase orders could be used. He feared the take-off of the Backlands project would result in Kells town centre being left 'in total dereliction'. The manager strongly rejected this and blamed developers 'waiting to see what will happen, economically'. Dereliction had become 'endemic' in one part of Kells where some major properties were empty for years as people watched to see where the 'footfall' (retail customers) would be going. He said he was not sure if property owners understood the clock was ticking, but some were in for a very rude awakening from the section eight procedure, in some cases within days. Cllr Conor Ferguson"s motion sought action on sites near Magdalene Court and Archdeaconry Glebe, off Maudlin Road. On one site there was almost four feet of water, making an accident inevitable while the other had become a base for increasingly dangerous antisocial behaviour. He had seen children climbing on top of the derelict shell and it was long past time for the site to be properly fenced off, he believed. Cllr Peter Caffrey suggested part-razing the worst building and using the rubble to block entrances. Cathaoirleach Cllr Brian Collins said experience countrywide was the Derelict Sites Act was a very slow process but it was unlikely the Government would move against private property owners. Cllr Brian Curran criticised those who brought a successful Bord Pleanála appeal against a development on one of the sites. Locals were now quite frightened of passing this area while the Tidy Towns adjudicator had also denounced the conditions there. Cllr Ollie Sweeney said the work of the dereliction officer was starting to bear fruit but the council had 'bent over too far to facilitate developers', while Cllr Drew described one site as 'extremely frustrating' and called for it to be razed now. He queried whether asbestos had been removed from a nearby roof and stored in an area close to where children played. Mr McGrath said the suggestion of asbestos being dumped there was being dealt with by the council. He agreed with councillors the site most complained of was probably the worst derelict site in Kells.