Derelict apartment complex in Sligo could be re-developed to include 30 social housing units

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

The long running saga surrounding the Old Mill Apartments in Ballisodare may be edging towards a resolution with Sligo County Council Chief Executive Martin Lydon this week confirming the local authority is actively engaging with the property owners in the hope of purchasing 30 units out of the 72 for social housing.

He told Monday’s meeting of the Municipal District of Sligo-Drumcliffe, that he was personally leading the negotiations with the owners of the derelict property and that he shared the frustration of the people of Ballisodare and councillors that the issue has dragged on since 2008 but that he had made it a priority since taking up his role with the County Council.

The Chief Executive along with Director of Services Emer Concannon were requested to provide an update on the development and Mr Lydon dismissed suggestions that the Council had done nothing in relation to the private development which has turned into an eyesore after it was abandoned. It was now on the Derelict Sites Register, the meeting heard.

Ms Concannon outlined some details of the negotiations with the landowners saying, “At the moment we are negotiating to potentially purchase 30 units in Ballisodare. This is subject to the units being brought up to current day standards in terms of building regulations and that is where the negotiations are at the moment. Of course it will be down to value for money also. Those negotiations are ongoing with the owners of the Mill Apartments and we will be doing them privately and not in public.”

Referring to comments made at a previous meeting Mr Lydon said, “At the last meeting it was said it was a scandal and the Council had a lot to answer for; I totally disagree with those comments. Do I understand people’s frustrations, absolutely. I have no issue with that but I do think at the same time we need to consider what we are saying and how we are saying it to the public and everybody else because I think the impression was being given that nothing is being done.

“I can actually say to you, we have tried to do a lot of work in relation to this but we are dealing with commercially sensitive information. This is a privately owned piece of land and property. Do I appreciate the way that the people who are the custodians of that property look after it, no I don’t, but at the same time if everybody thought there was an easy way to resolve this it would have been resolved. My understanding is it has been like that since 2008. Since I have turned up in Sligo I have engaged with the owners of the property.

“The truth of it is we cannot afford to go into a long drawn out legal process in relation to this unless everything is in place and there is no legal process at this moment in relation to the developer. They own the lands, it is now on the derelict sites register, it is up to them to try to deliver what we want delivered.

“Is it as quick as I would like, no it is not, but I am doing everything within the legal process that I am allowed to do and I am actually involved in the discussions myself, that is how serious I am taking it.”

When asked by Cllr Thomas Walsh if he felt the property owners were serious in their efforts to find a resolution, Mr Lydon replied, “Are we being drawn out? That is a very difficult question to answer Councillor. I don’t think we are, I think the problem we have got is they thought when they came up with an original price for that block they thought we wanted to take all the block and secondly they didn’t think they would have to come up to the revised building regulations.

"When I spoke to the Department in the past, there has to be a sharing of risk. I think we would all agree making the whole block a social housing unit, that goes against good practice where you are looking for mixed tenure. I don't think we have been drawn out on that. The second element was. to give ourselves a level of confidence we had to get our own report, that the Department paid for in relation to could the three blocks be brought back into use. That told us it could. We then needed a bit more detail which we refused to pay and in fairness the contractors paid in relation to the quality of the concrete that was in the block and that has come back okay from the report that we have received and that allows us to move on again.

“Now we are at the next stage, we are waiting for them to come back with how much it would cost for the said apartments that we would like and then we can go to the Department to say ‘are you going to fund this for us?’ They will ultimately be the paymasters.”

Noting the frustration of Councillors and the Ballisodare community in relation to the matter Mr Lydon said, “I’m really frustrated by this as well. I’d really like to get this resolved because I do think it could change everything in Ballisodare to get this apartment block going. Demolition is not going to happen, we have to be honest on that, that is not going to happen.”

The Chief Executive advised the meeting that a report commissioned by Sligo County Council has shown that the apartment blocks can be brought back into use. A report commissioned by the owners of the Old Mill stated that the quality of concrete is to appropriate standards.

Article Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.