Council given green light to acquire derelict property in Limerick

COUNCIL has been given permission to acquire a property on Limerick's northside which has been in a derelict state for more than 15 years.

It comes after its reputed owners did not stick to a pledge to bring the unit up to standard after a warning was issued three years ago.

As a result, An Bord Pleanala stepped into approve the compulsory purchase.

The unit, 7 O'Dwyer Villas, an end-of-terrace two-storey residential property, located in Thomondgate, is unoccupied.

And the An Bord Pleanala director who handled the case said a "significant" growth of Japanese knotweed had been identified in the back garden, which was spreading to the neighbouring property, which is let out to council tenants.

In September 2019, Limerick City and County Council had identified 7 O'Dwyer Villas as a derelict site and sought information on who the owners of the property are.

It was off the back of this that two people, believed to own the property, made contact with the council.

Twelve months later, the council served notice to enter the particulars of the land in the Derelict Sites Register.

This move meant its owners faced paying a bill of around seven percent of the land's value to the council until the site was deemed no longer derelict.

But off the back of this, a commitment was made to remove a car from the site, and complete some remedial works on the unit.

Fast-forward another 12 months to September 2021, however, these works had not been started, and the council formally placed the property onto the local Derelict Sites register.

And on October 20 2021, the council gave notice that it intended to buy the property itself on a compulsory basis.

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It sought permission to do this from An Bord Pleanala contending: "It is the inaction of owners and failure of their duties under the Derelict Sites Act, 1990, as amended, that jeopardises the future use of properties in the area due to their continued neglect and derelict state."

The An Bord Pleanala inspector - who visited the site in question - wrote: "At this point, there can be no argument that the site has a neglected, unsightly and objectionable appearance from the public road and in the surrounding streetscape."

They recommended its compulsory purchase, a view backed up by the board itself.

They wrote in a judgement: "It is considered the site detracts to a material degree from the amenity, character and appearance of land in the neighbourhood and therefore comes within the definition of a derelict site as defined in section three of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, as amended, and that the acquisition of the site by the local authority is necessary in order to render the site non-derelict and prevent it continuing to be a derelict site."