Notice of Intention to Issue a Direction to the Council, by the Minister for Local Government and Planning, on the Castlebar Town & Environs Local Area Plan 2023-2029

My submission here today will deal with two major issues facing the town and environs.

 

Dereliction is holding Castlebar back and Mayo County Council must set out new targets for a massive increase in residential units in the town centre.

 

We are in the middle of a housing crisis and Castlebar has an inordinate amount of derelict buildings that have been left in poor condition for well over 20-years.

 

The new area plan set out real and specific targets for dealing with dereliction over the period of the plan. Mayo County Council has been very slack in identifying derelict properties and in adding them to the the derelict sites register. Dereliction in a town centre is nothing but land hoarding and is morally unacceptable when there is a massive need for residential supply and and new accommodation units.

 

I would want any new plan to set out how the Derelict Sites Act 1990 will be used to deal with the problem. I want to see targets set and met over the period of the plan. This will entail setting out the extra staff needed to administer, in a proper way, the Derelict Sites Act

 

Dealing with this issue will help to ameliorate my second issue and that is is the provision of extra residential units in the town centre. Similarly, I would want any new Area Plan to set out targets for the provision of at least 400 units over the period in the centre of Castlebar.

 

In seeking to secure the delivery of at least 400 additional residential units, this aims to support the sustainability of the town centre of Castlebar as both a key focus for economic growth and its role as a social centre serving its catchment community.

 

Increasing the town centre population will contribute to achieving this by

helping to:

• boost the local daytime and evening economy with their spending power in Castlebar;

• provide a more developed sense of community across the town centre with a better balance between

younger and older town centre users and making the place livelier;

• reduce travel journeys and cost as jobs and facilities are more easily accessible;

• support the development of the evening economy;

• support the development of locally based employment and

• provide increased natural surveillance and security for all concerned.

 

If this issue is to be taken seriously it must be targeted and a number of residential units must be laid down in the plan and set out for delivery over the specific time period.

 

Thank you for reading my submission,

 

Harry Barrett

I want to see special dispensation given to sons and daughters of local people who wants to build homes close to the family home. 

 

This makes sense both socially and economically as it allows sons and daughters to be close to parents as they get older allowing them to care for them in their old age. It gives young people a chance to afford their first home and helps build a sense of community in the local area.

 

 Homes are far too expensive, rents are ridiculous and if a young couple want to build a house on their own site, near close family, they are put through the wringer by the onerous regulations imposed by the Planning Office. This must change in this new Plan.

 

 

I want special leniency in Planning Permissions given  without exception, if the applicant can prove an immediate housing need. If  they have immediate family in the area and if all environmental concerns are addressed.

 

Thank you,

 

Harry Barrett 

Please find attached the Department of Education's submission regarding the Ministerial Direction proposed for the Castlebar Town & Environs LAP 2023 - 2029 

Submission - Castlebar Town + Environs LAP - Notice of Intention to issue Direction - Roonith Properties (MA12)