Mayo town features in Eco Eye's focus on dereliction

The town of Ballina will be featured on tomorrow (Tuesday) evening's Eco Eye programme on RTÉ One at 7 p.m.

The Office of Planning Regulation has been working to increase public awareness of the importance of sustainable spatial planning.

To this end it has continued its collaboration with the producers of Eco Eye.

In tomorrow’s episode entitled ‘Dereliction,’ Duncan Stewart examines why Ireland has one of the highest rates of vacancy and dereliction in Europe and the steps that can be taken to tackle this issue.

Duncan considers how addressing vacancy and dereliction in our cities and towns could be the key to dealing with repairing sprawl, increasing housing stock and improving urban environments.

In this episode featuring Ballina, Duncan identifies why dereliction is so prominent in Ireland and what impact this is having on our communities.

He also looks at the policies and incentives being used in other countries to prevent and reverse the blight of vacancy and dereliction.

The programme features interviews with Francis Doherty, Director of Services with Responsibility for Housing Development and Communications with Peter McVerry Trust, Paul Moynihan, Director of Corporate Affairs and International Relations, Cork City Council, Jude Sherry and Dr. Frank O’Connor, Sustainable Designers with Anois, Tom Gilligan, Director of Services for Housing, Roads and Services Development, Mayo County Council, Councillor Mark Duffy, Mayo County Council and Kevin Loftus, architect, co-founder of Ireland's greenest town initiative.