More than 50 partly completed houses in Co Tipperary are due to be demolished, the Dáil has heard.
The houses, which were built more than 20 years ago as “tourism accommodation” for a hotel, are located at Ballypadeen in Cashel.
Minister of State Frank Feighan said the 52 units were “not designed, permitted or ever intended for permanent residential use” and have remained incomplete for almost 20 years.
Neither the units nor the site they were built on was owned by Tipperary County Council, he said, but the local authority was progressing a part-eight planning application to remove the derelict structures as part of an “agreed remediation approach”.
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Feighan said the future development of the land after that remediation was complete rested entirely with the owners and he said proposals would be subject to the county development plan and the statutory planning process.
“The land in question is unzoned, poorly serviced and located outside the settlement boundary of Cashel,” he said.
“Were it deemed suitable for long-term social housing development, the local authority may have considered a compulsory purchase order.
“However, there is no viable option to adapt the existing structures for residential use. The extent of work required to meet modern residential standards would be prohibitive and likely necessitate full demolition and reconstruction.”
Planning permission for the houses on an elevated, six hectare (15-acre) site was granted by what was then South Tipperary County Council in November 2004 as part of a development which included a 120-bedroom, four-storey over basement hotel and leisure centre with bus and car parking and helipad.
Work stopped in September 2007 when the council alleged the houses were not being built in compliance with planning permission.
At that time, the houses were partly complete, with roofs, windows, doors, plumbing and much of the electrical work in place.
Developer Liam Campion of Campion Concrete Products disputed the allegation of noncompliance. A complex planning and legal engagement between the parties ensued which involved visits to the courts and what was then An Bord Pleanála.
Following arbitration a binding mediated settlement was reached last July.
Feighan said although the Government’s housing plan contained a range of measures to address dereliction, the reality was “some unfinished units cannot be saved and require demolition”.
Independent TD Mattie McGrath raised the issue in the chamber on Wednesday. The Tipperary South TD said the council’s decision “defies logic” in the middle of a national housing emergency.
McGrath said the units were “sturdy mass concrete houses” and many had windows, doors, plumbing and electrics.
He said a number of developers had expressed interest in redeveloping the site, but “instead of exploring refurbishment Tipperary County Council seeks to demolish them entirely”.
“When there is huge housing demand across the county it is indefensible that viable housing stock is to be destroyed rather than repurposed for private, social, affordable or indeed health accommodation,” McGrath said.
McGrath said an independent quantity surveyor’s report estimated a cost of €8 million for the demolition and remediation, while the local authority had “continually refused to release full costs to my office via freedom of information requests”.
The TD said it was “a crying shame and an insanity” to demolish the houses.
“When thousands need homes we need to think outside the box here,” he said.
“These houses were granted full planning permission in a decision that was upheld in the courts over a long number of years, but now the same council that granted permission seeks to demolish them.”
The council has stressed that the houses visually affected the Rock of Cashel, a national monument and candidate Unesco world heritage site.
Planning permission for the houses had now expired and there was no connection to mains sewerage, the council said.
“The subject site is unzoned, unserviced and located outside the settlement boundary of Cashel. Any proposal to complete the structures and change the use of same to permanent residential accommodation would require a planning consent and the proposal would be considered to be contrary to national, regional and local planning policy” a spokesman told The Irish Times.
Cashel-based councillor Declan Burgess, who lives near the site, told The Irish Times: “There has been a lot of vandalism and antisocial behaviour up there that people living nearby have had to put up with. It has been a dangerous eyesore.”
The council’s advertisement for contractors, published on the Government’s etenders website, estimated the value of the works at €400,000.
Developer Liam Campion has been contacted for comment.
