A multimillion euro proposal to demolish 52 “almost complete” houses in Cashel, Co Tipperary, is “insanity” and should be paused and reconsidered, Deputy Mattie McGrath has told the Dáil.
The Deputy was speaking during a topical issues debate, where he raised the controversy. It came as it emerged in the local media on Wednesday that councillors in the Tipperary Cahir Cashel District have been informed that An Coimisiún Pleanála(ACP) is seeking information about the proposed demolition of the 52 partially built houses at Ballypadeen near Cashel.
The Councillors were informed in an email this week that an application for an Environmental Impact Assessment Screening determination was submitted to the Coimisiún on January 4th by a third party.
The planned demolition is part of a confidential mediated settlement between Tipperary County Council and the developer Liam Campion who will continue to hold ownership of the site.
However, local TD McGrath, an outspoken critic of the plan, told the Dáil on Tuesday that the demolition defies logic in the middle of a national housing emergency, describing the houses as as “solid as the rock of Cashel.”
He said that while many of the windows and doors have been vandalised, through no fault of the developer, the houses are “not mere shells – they were all finished.”
“I compliment the developer on such fine, sturdy mass concrete houses,” he said, regarding the houses, on which work stopped almost 20 years ago.
“They have mass concrete foundations, mass concrete lintels down on piles on a very solid site overlooking Cashel. They have mass concrete floors, mass concrete walls, mass concrete first ceilings and mass concrete ceilings on top as well. These are the kinds of houses we are dealing with. All the roofs bar one are perfect,” he told the debate.
“One roof is slightly damaged, either through vandalism or by the weather. The units are, as I said, not mere shells as many have windows, doors, plumbing and electrics. Independent assessments describe them as solid structures that are far from derelict. Importantly, a number of developers have expressed interest in redeveloping the site,” added the TD.
‘THEY COULD BE LUXURY HOUSES’
He hit out at the fact that rather than exploring refurbishment, Tipperary County Council seeks to demolish them entirely.
“We have 3,600 families or persons on the approved housing list in the county and here there is 1,800 sq. m of housing – 52 fine and spacious three-bedroom houses which the council seeks to knock down,” he said. “They could be luxury houses. 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.”
“Even more concerning is the lack of transparency about the costs. An independent quantity surveyor’s report estimates a cost of €8 million for the demolition and remediation, yet the council has continually refused to release full costs to my office via freedom of information requests,” Mr McGrath, who attended a protest at the site last weekend, added.
He claimed that the public and elected representatives “are being asked to accept a multimillion euro demolition without access to the basic financial information needed to evaluate the site. “
Furthermore, he said, they have been ordered not to visit the site.
“They were told they could be trespassing, which is not true according to the man who owns the site. The council states the buildings were originally intended as tourist accommodation and that the site is unzoned and outside the settlement boundary. However, that has all changed. We are 20 years on and we are in an emergency.
“National housing policy demands flexibility and reuse, not rigid adherence to outdated classifications. When thousands of people need homes we need to think outside the box. 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.”
McGrath went on to claim that environmental policy is equally contradicted.
“Demolishing 52 concrete structures will create 13,582 tonnes of waste and this runs against Government commitments on sustainability and waste reduction. It flies in the face of the principles of low-carbon and climate-resilient development. The phrase, “The greenest building is the one that is already built”, acknowledges that. This embraces the embedded carbon in these buildings and the enormous energy used to construct them. I have more to say but I will do so in my reply,” he said.
In response, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Deputy Frankie Feighan, said he wanted to clarify the position regarding the demolition of the houses at Ballypadeen. He said that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, sent his apologies for not being able to attend and answer Mr McGrath in person.
Mr Feighan said that the “reality is that some unfinished units cannot be saved and require demolition.” He went on to say that neither the derelict units in question nor the site they were built on are owned by Tipperary County Council, and that the units were constructed over 20 years ago as tourism accommodation ancillary to a permitted hotel.
“They were not designed, permitted or ever intended for permanent residential use and they have remained incomplete for almost 20 years,” he added.
“The land in question is unzoned, poorly serviced and located outside the settlement boundary of Cashel. Were it deemed suitable for long-term social housing development, the local authority may have considered a compulsory purchase order, CPO. 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.”
“There is no rationale,” Mattie McGrath replied. “That is why the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, is not here to take my Topical Issue. I handed a file to the Minister six to eight weeks ago in this regard. “
“These houses are not semi-derelict. I wanted to ask the Minister – I thought I would meet him today but I will meet him later – or the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to visit these houses. The site is located five minutes off the main N8,” the TD added.
McGrath went on to say that the houses are suitable for “any type of building.”
“They are solid structures. They are the best I have seen in a long time, and I have some experience in the game. They have mass concrete walls, ducting for all the wires, plumbing and everything else.
“Some 50 submissions have gone in under the Part 8 but the Part 8 has been turned on its head because when I visited the site last Monday with the owner, we met people there who were from a demolition company.
“When asked why they were there, they explained they were there as a result of an etender that was out two weeks before the Part 8 process closed. The tender was put out by Tipperary County Council. There is an indecent haste to demolish these houses.”
He said that unanswered questions remained, and that he did not support senior management in the council, adding that he could “not get answers” from any directors regarding the issue.
‘THE SITE AND THE HOUSES ARE AS SOLID AS THE ROCK OF CASHEL’
“The Minister of State told me that these houses were built with planning. They were built with full planning, alongside planning for a 120-bed hotel. Many estates around the country were built likewise, with both hotels and accommodation,” said McGrath.
“Many have been transformed and turned into accommodation. Anything could be done with them, from social housing, which we so badly need, to a health facility. We need a 60-bed health facility in Cashel. The Minister of State knows that.
“We cannot get a site for it, however. This is an ideal site. A site at Palmershill is being looked at but it is much more inaccessible. This site, however, has a roadway and all developed into it. The site and the houses are as solid as the Rock of Cashel. It is a crying shame and an insanity to demolish these houses and dispose of all this. It will cause that carbon footprint and leave the site scarred because the foundations and the base will not be removed.
“It is said that this is being done for the Rock of Cashel. Is a view more important than houses for families in Ireland? It seems that with this Government, the views and anything are more important. This is insanity. The definition of insanity, according to Einstein, is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results. Please halt this. Pause this demolition and re-evaluate it.”
Deputy Feighan reiterated: “As I said, it is unfortunate that some incomplete developments need to be demolished but in the case of this particular development in Tipperary, demolition of these unfinished units is deemed necessary by the local authority given they are in private ownership and not suitable for long-term residential use.”