Work to be completed on one block of ‘eyesore’ development in Grange
THERE was news this week that one block of a development in Grange, which has been described as an “eyesore”, will be completed in the next 12 months.
Local councillor Donal Gilroy asked at a Sligo-Drumcliffe Municipal District meeting for a report on what enforcement actions have been taken “to ensure the completion of the Grange Dale Development on the N15 at Aghagad, Grange, which has remained in a state of dereliction and an eyesore at the entrance to Grange village”. Block 1 of this development has the SuperValu supermarket on the ground floor but apartments overhead have not been completed.
Block 2 contains a number of shop units, just two of which are occupied, by the post office and a takeaway. However, the proposed upper floors of these buildings, which were to contain apartments, were never built.
Cllr Gilroy’s motion stated: “The completion of this project could provide much-needed residential accommodation and assist the local community and the business owners in making the village more aesthetically pleasing.
“These buildings have become a venue for anti-social behaviour and the impact on the entire village will only get worse is enforcement is not forthcoming.”
Director of Services Dorothy Clarke told him that the council had commenced enforcement action against the original owners of this development when work on its completion ceased. But she said that following this the property changed hands and the council had recently been contacted by agents for the current owners who propose to complete works to the apartments in Block 1 (over the supermarket) in the next 12 months.
Ms Clarke said that no indication was given that any works were envisaged to take place to Block 2 (the post office and takeaway block) on the short term. She said that as the original planning permission has expired any new works to Block 2 would require a new planning permission.
Cllr Gilroy said he was delighted to hear that the first block was going to be completed. However, he said it was not fair on the two businesses trading in the other block that there was no indication of it being completed. He said that nobody was going to move into the vacant units there because those premises did not have proper roofs. “They are just floors for the apartments that were supposed to be built overhead,” he said. Cllr Gilroy said it was important that the new owners now applied for planning permission to complete Block 2 as well as they did not want a situation in 18 months’ time where the building’s Block 1 was completed and the owners then had to go through the planning process before work could start on Block 2.
Cllr Marie Casserly welcomed the report and said that the condition of these buildings had been mentioned before in Tidy Towns reports.
She said that businesses had had to move out of premises there because of the poor qualiry of the buildings.
Cllr Tom Fox said it was a shame to see premises lying idle there because Grange was a sought-after area.