Penalties owed for Bray lands
WICKLOW County Council is owed hundreds of thousands of euro in relation to lands on the Southern Cross Road in Bray.
Deputy John Brady received Freedom of Information documents. He said that back in 2008, a 1.78 acre site on Southern Cross road was sold by Wicklow County Council and bray Town Council to limited company Nechouka at a cost of €14.4 million. The purchase of the 1.78 acre site from the council was key to opening up a privately owned site that adjoined it. A subsequent application was lodged to develop a large retail store, a six screen cinema and other various retail outlets to be commenced within one year. As part of the lease agreement a clause was included to impose penalties if construction on site did not commence within year one as agreed, at a cost of €100,000 per annum.
‘Those familiar with the Southern Cross area will know that such a development was widely welcomed and anticipated due to the absence of any such services in the area,’ said Deputy Brady ‘Over nine years later and much to the frustration of those living in the area, the site remains vacant. With that, Freedom of Information documents confirm that the company have not paid one cent in penalties as stipulated by their lease. In fact, Nechouka have been allowed to accrue monies outstanding to the Council of €750,000 over the past seven years. Despite this, Nechouka remains a registered limited company and is profitable.’
Cllr Michael O’Connor said that he is constantly being contacted by residents of the Southern Cross area looking for basic services for their community.
‘I have been requesting monies from Wicklow County Council for these facilities, services and minor necessities in Southern Cross and time and time again, these requests are rejected due to financial reasons. The latest request rejected due to cost implications was for litter bins for the area.’
Deputy Brady said that a number of reminder letters had been sent to the company to no avail. ‘Wicklow County Council must explain why they are allowing a two-tier payment structure, one for ordinary taxpayers and another for big business,’ he said.
‘While, the people of Wicklow are being crippled paying property taxes and commercial rates, big businesses are allowed to ignore hundreds of thousands of Euro owed to the council without any repercussions.’