Owne of derelict property being pursued under Derelict Sites Act

The owner of a Rathwire property causing concern because of rodents is being pursued by the council under the derelict sites act. Cllr Emily Wallace asked the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad to clean up the derelict site at Rathwire. “Brambles and briars are currently encroaching on the property adjacent and there is a concern about rodents,” Cllr Wallace told the January meeting of the authority.

In reply, the executive said it will clear the brambles, and that the property is being pursued under the act.

The local authority has the power to place buildings on the Derelict Sites Register, a public list identifying properties that detract from the area’s amenity due to ruinous structures, neglect, or rubbish, allowing councils to impose an annual derelict site levy (7% of market value) and compel owners to improve them or face further action, like compulsory purchase.

Last September the local authority was told there are 20 properties listed on the Derelict Sites Register for the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

Of the 20 properties on the register at that time, four – one each in Killucan, Collinstown, Mullingar and Delvin - have undergone renovation and were scheduled to be removed from the register on final inspection.