A South Tipp councillor says the OPW can’t sit back and ‘do nothing’ about derelict protected structures.
Independent Kevin O’Meara says that there are towns and villages across the county that have unsafe and unsightly buildings that are being ignored.
Speaking about his own area of Mullinahone he said that they are trying to develop a village enhancement plan but the protected structures which are in a state of disrepair are posing a problem.
Cllr. O’Meara told Tipp FM that there needs to be a long term plan coming down at national level.
“There are old building throughout all the village and town centres and some of them are in private ownership and they are gone into poor repair and they are not finically viable for owners to do anything with them and when it comes to the protected ones there is additional red tape, or they can’t do certain things with them and the cost of doing anything with them is prohibitive. There are grants there but in some cases the grants are not fit for purpose, they are not enough.”
These protected structures in Tipperary that are in disrepair need an adequate funding stream.
He has called on the OPW and Government to act immediately.
“The area needs to be properly funded at national level, through the OPW down to through the county council to identify these buildings and come up with a plan longer term and see what we can do because we can’t sit on our hands and do nothing.”
