Council secures permission to buy entire ghost estate in Limerick

While they accepted the estate was untidy and unfinished all the objectors, which included many families with young children, said they fully intended to complete the development in order to provide for their housing needs. File picture: Denis Minihane

Limerick City and County Council has secured permission for the compulsory acquisition of an entire ghost estate on the outskirts of Rathkeale, Co Limerick, despite strong opposition from Traveller families who own individual sites.

An Bord Pleanála has approved the application by the local authority to use compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to take control of 33 individual sites at various stages of construction on an unfinished housing development at Ballywilliam Close in Rathkeale under the Derelict Sites Act.

All the objectors, which included many families with young children, said they fully intended to complete the development in order to provide for their housing needs.

While they accepted the estate was untidy and unfinished, they argued it did not meet the definition of a derelict site under the legislation that would allow CPOs to be used by the council.

Well-known Traveller

The housing estate, which was partially constructed between 10 and 15 years ago by a well-known figure in Rathkeale’s Traveller community, consists mostly of partly completed detached and semi-detached houses, while several plots contain only foundation slabs and with no development at all on three sites.

Following a site visit, an inspector with An Bord Pleanála said the development had been secured but concrete footpaths were in a poor state of repair while garden areas were overgrown with weeds.

She also found rusted manholes and evidence of unfinished services as well as large quantities of building rubble.

“The majority of structures have been exposed to the elements for many years with widespread evidence of decay and deterioration of building fabric,” the inspector observed.

She noted trees were growing inside several of the incomplete houses, while the overall estate had “a neglected, unsightly, and objectionable appearance” with many structures in a dangerous condition.

The families said they collected a fund in excess of €100,000 to engage contractors to ensure the estate was in a clean and good state of repair while they also planned to establish a management company to oversee the development.

They accused the council of being uncooperative and refusing to engage with them.

The council was also criticised for issuing notices about the proposed CPOs during the pandemic when they knew many of the owners were abroad.

The families claimed a builder had been engaged in 2011 to carry out further works at Ballywilliam Close but the council had said they could not go ahead without securing an extension of time on the planning permission.

The site owners said the delay in completing the development was due to the council advising it that any funds spent on the development would be wasted as an extension of time would not be granted and no services would be connected.

The board was informed that 20 owners intended to commence work immediately to complete the houses but it was dependent on the position regarding the CPOs, provision of services, and planning permission.

The objectors accepted that 13 sites would require fresh planning permission.

Alternatives exhausted

However, Limerick City and County Council said the powers under the Derelict Sites Act were only used where all reasonable alternatives had been exhausted and the estate had been regarded as derelict since 2013.

Council officials said they received a large number of complaints about the development from a variety of sources, including Rathkeale Community Council, elected representatives, and members of the public, while it had also received negative media attention.

They noted that the owners had pulled out of an agreement reached in February 2019 that would have seen the council taking the houses on a long-term lease.

The council said some remedial works were undertaken on the estate after it had served notice of its intention to acquire the properties but it believed such actions were taken to shield the owners from the CPO process.

An Bord Pleanála ruled that the site detracted from the amenity, character, and appearance of neighbouring properties, and its acquisition by the council was necessary to render it non-derelict.