Council under pressure to get tough with Longford derelict site owners

In what has been a regular bone of contention at local political level, the topic was one which generated plenty of lively debate at last week’s monthly meeting of Longford Municipal District.

Leading that charge was Fine Gael Cllr Peggy Nolan who claimed it was time for local authority bosses to adopt a no nonsense approach to the problem.

“There are people out there flaunting the law and I can't see why levies can't be put on these people,” she said.
In a strongly worded attack on the owners of derelict sites, Cllr Nolan urged the Council's top table to go after those found to be worst at fault.

“It's the only way civic pride is going to be replaced,” he said.

“There are old buildings that have been left derelict for donkey years and we need to apply the Derelict Sites Act .”

While the term “derelict site” is used, the register is generally used for houses and other buildings that are in a poor condition, while the vacant sites register is more likely to be used for plots of land that could be used to build homes.

As with the Vacant Sites Register, owners of properties on the Derelict Sites Register face annual fines of 3 per cent, which will increase to 7 per cent in 2020.

Under current legislation, councils like Longford can go a step further by implementing compulsory purchase orders on derelict sites.