Four derelict buildings in the heart of a Mayo town to be demolished and turned into housing
A long-standing derelict black spot in the centre of Castlebar is set to be demolished and redeveloped as housing, following years of calls from local councillors for urgent action.
Four council-owned derelict buildings along Ellison Street will be knocked down, and 13 apartments will be built in their place.
Mayo County Council has formally issued its notice of intention to demolish the units under Part Eight of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001.
The proposed 13-unit development will comprise of one studio apartment, six one-bedroom apartments, four two-bedroom apartments and two three-bedroom apartments.
Local councillor Ger Deere welcomed the development, saying progress on the site was long overdue.
“The buildings are a complete eyesore. They are letting down the street and the town because they just look so terrible,” he said.
Cllr Deere has repeatedly raised concerns about the condition of the buildings at Castlebar Municipal District meetings.
Most recently, in December, he called on the council to demolish the units as soon as possible and to install boarding around the site to improve the appearance of the street and improve what he described as the “despicable” condition of the properties.
While acknowledging the delays in securing funding to bring the project forward, he said the announcement marked a positive step.
“The council were doing their best with it, but there is so much bureaucracy in getting these schemes off the ground. This is good news to start the new year with,” he said.
He added that it was encouraging to see work finally moving forward and also commended other regeneration schemes happening across Castlebar, which he said are helping to tackle dereliction and deliver much-needed housing.
On Lower Charles Street, two vacant and derelict townhouses have been replaced with four one-bedroom apartments.
A terrace of three units at Barrack Bridge is being retained and refurbished due to its importance to Castlebar’s historic character; it will provide three two-bedroom houses.
As well, a vacant site at Riverside, Newtown, will be developed into four new terraced homes.
Cllr Deere said he is hopeful that the newly launched ‘Vacant Above the Shop’ Grant, announced by Minister for Housing James Browne in December, will help to boost regeneration in the town centre and “bring life back to the Main Street”.
He said that in the 1960s and 1970s it had been common for people to live above the shops in Castlebar and added that: “it will be great to see it come back again because there are a lot of premises, a lot of retail businesses, that have nothing on top of them and the spaces are going derelict.”
Cllr Deere also pointed out that Castlebar, like many towns across Ireland, has lost a significant number of smaller retailers in recent years, driven by the growth of online shopping and by rising business rates and rents. This, he said, has resulted in a growing number of vacant units in the town centre.
“We have to reimagine the town centre, and I think doing up a lot of the old shops on Main Street and turning them into townhouses would bring life back into the town again,” he said.
He believes a renewed focus on residential development in the town centre could help attract families back to live in the heart of Castlebar.
“There were families reared on Main Street years ago when we had no facilities in the town, but now we have so many facilities on the doorstep,” he said.
He also pointed to Castlebar’s unique advantage in having major retailers such as Dunnes Stores and Tesco located in the town centre rather than on the outskirts, adding that this places the town in a strong position to support a residential-led revival.
“We have so many facilities now like Lough Lannagh, the town park, the Turlough Greenway right in the centre of town - where better place to raise a family,” he added.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.