Council to acquire 11 properties to address vacancy and dereliction

A TOTAL of 11 properties will be acquired by Mayo County Council to address vacancy and dereliction in towns across Mayo. 

Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon said that Mayo County Council had initially identified 46 properties which were suitable for acquisition under the under the government's Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF) programme, with a total estimated acquisition cost of €7.1m.

However, during the initial stages of the programme, it was indicated by the Department that focus should be on buildings located within town centre areas which will provide some element of residential use.  

Deputy Dillon said the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, had indicated that his Department would consider any submission from Mayo County Council making a further case for the inclusion of any of the properties omitted by the Department.  

The URDF currently part-funds 132 regeneration and rejuvenation projects projects, comprising of almost 400 subprojects,  across the country.

"Mayo County Council are now being encouraged to proceed with tackling those properties approved for inclusion on their acquisition programme," said Deputy Dillon. 

"Under the URDF Call 3, specifically targeted at tackling vacancy and dereliction in cities and towns across the country, funding of €2m was allocated in Mayo.  

"I am urging the council to continue to identify suitable vacant and derelict buildings given that there are currently 284 sites on the Derelict Sites Register in the county while a dedicated officer has also been employed to address the issue of dereliction by engaging with owners of these buildings, issuing statutory notices and placing these sites on the register," he added.