Mayo councillor says Ballyhaunis centre will be 'decimated' by Council's regeneration policy

A MAYO Fine Gael councillor says she will not support anymore commercial units in her town being renovated into residential units as she believes it will decimate the town if it continues.

Ballyhaunis-based councillor Alma Gallagher called for Mayo County Council to revaluate its policy regarding the regeneration of rural towns and villages and its support of the renovation of commercial spaces into residential units.

The Fine Gael councillor clashed with the Director of Services, Tom Gilligan at the monthly meeting of the Claremorris/Swinford Municipal District when he refused to give a commitment to her that the old post office in Ballyhaunis will be retained for commercial use.

“At the moment we are at a crossroads in Ballyhaunis and we need to reevaluate rural regeneration and what those policies are.

“We need to preserve and protect the commercial centre of our town...we have a hollowing out of our town centre in Ballyhaunis.

“From here on in I will not be supporting any more retrofitting or conversion of commercial facilities in Ballyhaunis to residential,” she told the meeting.

Cllr Gallagher proposed a review of Act 10.6 Exemption from Commercial to Residential and was supported by Sinn Fein councillor Gerry Murray who said that owners of shops have to be incentivised to hold onto their commercial space.

The Charlestown-based councillor said that the vacant home grant had 'unintended consequences' and the legislation needs to be 'tweaked'.

“It is vital we retain the commercial core of our towns,” he said. “There is demand out there but we need to tweak the legislation and give grant aid to leave the commercial space.

“It doesn't take a big job to tweak the legislation and make sure that we retain the commercial core and the local authority retains its rate base. I am encouraging people to keep the commercial unit and old shop front. 

“Sometimes legislation has unintended consequences and it is not a big job to tweak it and change things around. I have to support Alma because I have seen the impact of it in my own town and other towns in east Mayo.”

In response, Mr Gilligan stated he understood their concerns but stressed that residential development plays a central role in relation to rural regeneration.

“At the end of the day we have a housing list and people in homeless accommodation and it is essential," he said.

However, Cllr Gallagher said that Mayo County Council should concentrate on building new homes and that Ballyhaunis did not need more residential units in the town centre.

“Towns like Ballyhaunis don't need more incentives for people to come; we have the third fastest population growth of the county. The local authority should start building houses at Abbey Quarter [housing estate] and not turn commercial centres into residential; that is not the answer.

“In Ballyhaunis we cannot have more residential and we need to preserve the ground floor for commercial entities.

“We will have the centre of Ballyhaunis decimated if we continue to go along the way we are,” she said.

Mr Gilligan countered that it was a 'chicken and egg' situation and claimed that if people live in a town it will result in more services.

Ballinrobe-based councillor Damien Ryan said a balance was needed regarding towns holding onto their commercial buildings but at the same time not leaving buildings vacant.

Claremorris-based councillor Richard Finn said he agreed with Mr Gilligan saying that he would at all times support residential development in whatever form it comes.