Councillors in Arklow losing patience at lack of urgency to address derelict and vacant properties on main street

By Hugh O'Farrell Walsh, The Wicklow People

District councillors in Arklow are losing patience at the lack of urgency to address the growing scourge of derelict and vacant properties on the town’s main street and surrounding areas.

The thorny issue raised its head again at their December monthly meeting, when Cllr Pat Fitzgerald vented his frustration at the volume of abandoned buildings in the seaside town, which he said is “a bloody disgrace”.

Cllr Fitzgerald described his embarrassment at the number of vacant properties in Arklow’s town centre.

His comments come as the fallout continues following a damming report from An Taisce, published over the summer, which singled out Arklow as one of the most “problematic locations in the country” because of the level of dereliction in its main streets.

The report found Wicklow County Council “systematically failing in its obligations under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to register derelict and vacant buildings/land under the Act and impose the annual 7pc financial levy, as a disincentive to property owners failing to bring buildings and sites back into use”.

In a letter issued by An Taisce to the local authority, which raised “particular concern” at the level of dereliction in the historic centre and port area of Arklow, the correspondence reiterated that “all derelict sites and buildings in the urban area should be scheduled and subject to the imposition of the annual financial levy to incentivise the development of the property or site sale under the ‘use it or lose it’ principle”.

The letter also noted that the placing of a building up for sale, attachment of a sale sign or sale agreed sign on the building or site, or transfer to a new owner, should not in any way inhibit registering the building or site under the Derelict Sites Act and imposing a levy.

“In the case of Arklow, this would apply to the site in Upper Main Street extending from the fire-damaged cinema to the railway line.”

An Taisce also requested that several sites and buildings, if not already registered, be put on the register under Section 8 of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, and that these properties “require registration and levy imposition”.

Cllr Fitzgerald believes the issue is having a severe negative impact on the town’s reputation.

“The whole thing is a mess. I’m now 26 years working in the council, I’ve never seen the town in a worse off state. Officials are more powerful than the councillors and they need to do something about it.”

District manager Leonora Earls explained that work is ongoing to survey and review the sites identified in the report, with council officials actively pursuing the purchase of derelict buildings in the town.

“That’s what we’re trying to do down here in Arklow, reaching out to the owners to see if they are interested in getting going, or if we could take it off their hands.”

Cllr Warren O’Toole then asked about the purchasing of derelict sites and if the council could retain them, adding: “Is it in the interest of the community for the council to retain these sites?”

“The idea is that the local authority will purchase them by agreement, or by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO), and then carry out works to make them ready for re-sale, regenerating those particular properties and getting them back into use.” Ms Earls replied.

Cllr Fitzgerald then asked if the Arklow MD had issued any fines to anyone in the town for “buildings lying idle and in bad shape”.

“All over the town, including the Riverwalk, there are abandoned buildings, places that were used many years ago.

“The whole thing is a mess here. I don’t see anything being done about it, funding needs to be provided so we can tackle this.

“This issue is a blot on the landscape and it’s giving people a bad impression of Arklow, and there is not a dicky bird being done about it.” he added.

Noting there is a difference between a vacant property and a derelict property, Ms Earls replied: “If they’re vacant, we can’t make someone do something with it as such.

“To be considered derelict, it is a very tight definition in the Act. So, what might be unsightly doesn’t necessarily mean it’s derelict.”

Echoing those sentiments, Cllr Peir Leonard said the issue needs to be sorted out, while Cllr Sylvester Bourke called on officials to explore CPOs as a way to combat the problem, citing a previous suggestion made by the local town team.

Cathaoirleach, Cllr Miriam Murphy, said the council needs to continue being proactive on this issue and renewed a previous call for a meeting with town regeneration officer Stephen Clarke.

Concluding the discussion Cllr Pat Kennedy called on the MD staff to consider compiling a report on vacancy and dereliction across the entire region.

“We have two towns and 10 villages in this district, and I believe it would be very beneficial to have an audit of the entire area to get a clearer picture of just how prevalent this issue is.

“Only then could we get a real sense of what needs to be done and how we could contribute to that discussion.” he added.