Zero tolerance

Under the Derelict Sites Act, the owners of any urban land or properties listed on the Derelict Sites Register must pay an annual levy to their local authority of three per cent the market value of their property. This can rise to a maximum of ten per cent in subsequent years. Cavan County Council is in the final stages of compiling the Derelict Sites register for the county with as many as 70 sites or properties on the list. The matter was raised by Cllr. Sean McKiernan at this month"s meeting of Cavan County Council. He said that derelict sites conveyed a bad impression and were a source of concern to residents associations, tidy towns committees and business people. Cllr. McKiernan was anxious to know what the Council position was in relation to those sites; did it have a list of derelict properties and what did it intend to do about them? 'Perhaps we could look at introducing incentives in order to encourage people to develop sites that are lying idle,' he suggested. Cllr. Francis McDermott said that smaller towns were hardest hit by this dereliction, with small shops lying idle, and it was important that an urban renewal programme should target those smaller towns and villages. His Fianna Fáil colleague Cllr. Clifford Kelly said that when it was discussed in the past it was proposed that a register of derelict sites be formulated. 'I was shocked to see in my own community recently that members of the public had to paint buildings belonging to other people in order to clean them up and make them respectable before the World Racquetball Championships. I don"t think this should happen - the council should enforce whatever laws they have in order to ensure that such buildings are kept in a tidy fashion,' he said. Cllr. Kelly continued that the owners of such properties should be compelled to clean them up and in extreme circumstances the local authority should have the power to go in and carry out this work and charge it to the owners. Drinking parties According to Cllr. Winston Bennett many derelict buildings were home to parties and it just wasn"t drink that was involved, it was also drugs. He happened to visit one such premises and a skip wouldn"t have been able to take away all the cans that were lying there. Cllr. Andrew Boylan said that the good work of voluntary committees was being nullified by the existence and condition of derelict sites. 'Tidy Towns committees are doing great work right across the county and these derelict sites are losing them points. The owners of these buildings often live far away and the council must have a role to play in ensuring they are kept tidy,' he maintained. Cllr. Pauline McCauley said health and safety were important issues with regard to derelict sites. There was no excuse for buildings to be left lying derelict and those properties could have been sold on, she suggested. There were also derelict buildings in rural areas, she added. Cllr. Maura Maguire Lynch referred to the great work being done by Killeshandra Community Council in promoting the regeneration of the town. However, there were still a few derelict sites there and she agreed with the motion that the council should tackle the problem. Register The director of Service, Ger Finn, informed the meeting that the register of derelict sites was almost complete. 'We have 70 sites identified and when the register is finalised we will be following matters up appropriately,' he said. 'There are financial powers with regard to levies on owners who don"t carry out works detailed on the notices.' Emphasising the council"s zero tolerance approach, the county manager, Jack Keyes, said progress was being made and there were improvements in the situation as a result of informal contact with the owners. 'There are problems that should be addressed and these sites are bringing down our county really badly. We"re trying to promote brightness in our towns and villages; there is a huge onus on us to address this and the council will be adopting a tough approach to these sites going forward,' said Mr. Keyes.