Mayo residents 'very angry' over dereliction in their town - RTÉ reports
Castlebar residents are 'very angry' over a number of prominent buildings lying derelict it the town centre, including Mayo's most historic building - where the Land League was founded in 1879.
That's according to a report by Carole Coleman, featured today on the RTÉ Radio One programme, News at One.
She explained that 24 properties were listed on Castlebar's derelict sites register last year, while Co Mayo had more than 250 derelict sites in total.
"We've got four prime properties just off the Main Street in Castlebar," Independent Councillor Harry Barrett said, referring to a row of derelict properties on Ellison Street.
"You can see the grills hanging off the roof to stop the slates coming down. These properties should have been developed ten years ago."
The Ellison Street properties have been taken over by Mayo County Council, but due to design issues a recent application to turn them into social housing units was not supported by the Department of Housing.
"We needed the money for this years ago," Coucillor Barrett said.
He added that construction on the new units was due to begin last November.
Instead, he lamented, the vacant buildings remain an eyesore in the centre of Castlebar.
"People in the town are very angry about it, councillors are getting multiple calls about it," Councillor Barrete said.
"We need to push on. It's not acceptable."
A spokesperson for Mayo County Council told RTÉ's News at One that it is seeking a new planning permission for 13 social housing units at the Ellison Street sites.
Another prominent derelict building is the former Imperial Hotel on the mall - the central green space in Castlebar town.
Michael Davitt founded the Land League there nearly 150 years ago, making it one of Mayo's most historic buildings.
"We've been covering the story of the Imperial for over 15 years now," said Tom Kelly, editor of The Connaught Telegraph.
The former hotel was purchased by the council in 2011, but has since fallen into dereliction.
Plans by property developers to turn it into a hotel again have fallen through.
"It's very annoying for people who have pride in Castlebar," Mr. Kelly said.
"The Imperial Hotel has become a monument to the failure to address the dereliction problem here," he added.
Mayo County Council said it planned to revert to an earlier proposal to turn the building into a local innovation hub.
The housing crisis is hitting Castlebar from all angles.
The Castlebar Municipal District said 437 housing units were needed to accommodate those currently on the housing list.
Mayo County Council said that as of last week there were 49 families from the Castlebar area living in emergency accommodation.
Many of these are understood to be in a homeless hub in Charlestown.
Castlebar has now met the criteria to be declared a rent pressure zone by Minister for Housing James Browne.
This comes as rents in the Mayo town have increased by double digits.
"Castlebar is a good town with good jobs," auctioneer Marian Moran said.
However, the lack of supply is pushing rents up by 20% a year.
"A two-bedroom apartment will command €1,500 a month. One-bedroom will get €1,300-1,400 if it's good, and if it's town centre."
On the building side, Ms. Moran said: "We don't see that many new houses coming on stream. Even the price of the second-hand houses have gone up dramatically."
She added that the cost of building materials and lack of funding were preventing all but a few builders from operating.
Councillor Barrett called for greater autonomy for local councils and municipal districts in tackling dereliction.
"We need emergency powers with dereliction in this county. There are people holding onto buildings in this county for 20 or 30 years and nothing is being said to them.
"If I'm telling people they have to go to homeless shelters in Charlestown, something has to be done with dereliction," he said.