Councillor angry CPO’S proposal is turned down

A PROPOSAL to initiate Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO’s) on properties listed on the Derelict Sites Register was voted down at the monthly council meeting on Monday night.

The Motion by Cllr Madeleine Johansson (PBP) was defeated by 17 votes with 14 votes in favour and two abstentions.

Johansson says 10 sites on the register are residential and include properties on Wheatfield Rd in Palmerstown and Grange View Grove in Clondalkin, both of which have been vacant for “more than 10 years.”

“I’m really angry that councillors voted down my motion. There is over 13,000 households in emergency accommodation, thousands of them include children,” said Cllr Johansson.

“It’s reprehensible to continue to allow property owners to leave homes lying vacant and becoming derelict in the middle of a housing crisis. The very least that the council can do is to initiate [CPO’s] on properties vacant for a long time. Those homes could then be used for families who are in desperate need.

“The derelict properties are also an eyesore in local communities and cause other problems such as vermin and illegal dumping.

“Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party and Labour Party councillors who voted against my motion have shown that they have no interest in solving the housing crisis. Only radical action, like what I proposed, can end the housing crisis and the establishment parties have no will to do that.”

In response to Cllr Johansson, South Dublin County Council acknowledged the 10 residential sites on the register, and said they intend to compulsorily acquire a further four properties in Tallaght under the Derelict Sites Act.

“We have also recently acquired a derelict site in Clondalkin that will potentially be developed for housing purposes. Derelict sites legislation has been utilised in South Dublin in recent years with six properties vested by the council under that legislation and this option will continue to be considered if alternative solutions are not arrived at to address the dereliction,” said a council spokesperson.

SDCC also cited a new programme for CPO’s under the national Vacant Homes Action Plan, and €6m they were allocated in the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund to address long term vacant and derelict properties.