By Kate Heaney
THE state of cordoned off buildings and dereliction on Letterkenny’s Main Street saw questions raised by a number of councillors at Tuesday’s Letterkenny Milford MD meeting.
Members Donal Coyle, Ciaran Brogan, Jimmy Kavanagh and Donal Mandy Kelly had all tabled motions to find out what was being done to resolve the issue and why, despite substantial finding being awarded, had the problem of dereliction not been addressed yet.
The consensus among members was that progress needs to happen.
Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh told the meeting that the issue of the cordoned off buildings and dereliction was frequently raised by voters during the local election campaign in May.
He referred to Cllr Ciaran Brogan’s motion on the agenda calling on the executive to give monthly updates on the progress of work to regenerate areas of the town.
“Walking around other towns in the county and country you do not see the same problems. It is absolutely vital for Letterkenny that we tackle this dereliction.
The cordoned off building is a nightmare for pedestrians,” Cllr Kavanagh said.
Seconding the motion Cllr Donal Mandy Kelly said the workshop members had that morning on the issue was very informative.
“We all came away from that meeting feeling we are making progress.
“Businesses along the street are suffering,” Cllr Kelly said.
Cllr Kavanagh added that the council need to push ahead with the Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs), stressing that: “We cannot make progress on the market square until that building is sorted.”
Cllr Brogan told the meeting that some E26 million was available from government for the regeneration of the main street under the URDF and some 46 property owners had been identified as well as 12 Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs)
“We want to see much more action on the regeneration of Letterkenny and we have the money.
We need to go in and CPO that building at market square and support business people in the town,” he added.
Cllr Coyle echoed this “there is very little to see over the last five years. Delivery is what it is all about,” he added warning that if a digger went in to work on the market square, the cordoned off building would fall down.
MS Chair Cllr Gerry McMonagle told the meeting there was a strong commitment from the team that morning to work together with members to implement the various regeneration projects.
“The message needs to be sent out to the community that this is going to happen,” he said.
In a detailed response the council executive said a Regeneration and Development Team has been established since 2019 and the multidisciplinary team has been strengthened to progress matters.
Details were also provided of the various projects and their funding.
In a detailed response to progress on the cordoned off building, the council executive stated: “Following receipt of a Structural Engineers Report submitted by a number of the property owners of Nos 2, 4 and 6 Upper Main Street, Letterkenny, which identified potentially dangerous structures, the Council closed sections of the footpath, parking areas and carriageway adjacent the building frontages of Nos 2, 4 and 6 Upper Main Street and the Market Square.
“As there are multiple properties and owners involved, the Council has engaged an independent Chartered Structural Engineer and legal representation to assist in progressing this matter.
The Council will continue to liaise with all parties to ensure that the essential works necessary are carried out by the property owners, to make the properties and site safe and minimise closures to the existing public footpath, carriageway, and parking areas.
The Council will keep the Elected Members updated as the matter progresses.
“Update on the proposed re imagining of market square: External consultancy services have been procured to prepare the detailed design for the Market Square and this work is progressing well.
“It is intended to seek a workshop with the Members in the coming weeks to provide an update on the work carried out to date, to seek feedback on the detailed design and to provide timelines for the next steps in terms.”
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