Yesterday, Westmeath County Councillors elected to Athlone Moate Municipal Council passed a motion calling for a halt to construction of an IPAS accommodation centre at Lissywollen.
Independent Ireland Councillor Paul Hogan, who is to contest the Longford/Westmeath constituency in the forthcoming elections, proposed a motion on planning grounds that was passed unanimously by the Council.
Councillor Hogan told Gript that he had looked at the relevant planning legislation and he claims that the Ministerial approval for the IPAS Centre under Section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 does not apply to a function reserved to local authorities for the construction of temporary dwellings. That reserved function is outlined in the Local Government Reform Act of 2014.
The motion that was proposed by Councillor Hogan states that the Council was making an order “prohibiting the erection of temporary dwellings as it is our view that their erection is prejudicial to the amenities of the locality and interferes unreasonably with that area.”
In the meantime, Councillor Hogan and other local representatives are of the opinion that work on the site should not proceed. It was explicitly outlined that the order made by the Council “applies to specified land under which construction is currently taking place.”
Having been passed by the local municipal council the Minister will now have to outline why the IPAS Centre which is to consist of tents and other temporary dwellings ought to proceed.
The challenge by the Council on planning grounds is the first of its kind as far as I am aware.
Others have raised questions about the various permissions granted to other centres but they have not had the backing of elected bodies.
It once again highlights the opaque process surrounding the awarding of contracts, and the ability of the State to in effect force the centres into being with no local consultation and with the backing of what are effectively emergency planning provisions.
Councillors also sought information on Trailhead Unlimited, the company which has been awarded the lucrative contract for the Lissywollen site. IPAS were unable to do more than to confirm that this is the company’s first contract which rather contradicts the Departmental briefing from October 8 which referred to Trailhead’s “expertise in providing facilities management services,” and that they have “worked with the Department in the past to provide accommodation for people who have fled the war in Ukraine.”
Not as Trailhead they haven’t. As I pointed out last week, this company was only officially registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) on September 25. The current shareholders are two companies whose function appears to be to register companies and it is unclear at this stage who the beneficial owners of Trailhead Unlimited are.
The company also appears to have changed its directors in the past week. On October 8, the two directors I found registered with the CRO were Shabbir Garana and Karen Corcoran. This morning the two directors listed are a Jacintha McCarthy and an Alan Flanagan. McCarthy is also listed as the secretary of Trailhead and both have the same address at Fisherman’s Wharf, Ringsend, Dublin. Neither are listed as having any other current or previous directorships
Two members of the IPAS Community Support team were present at the meeting to brief the Councillors.
When Councillor Hogan questioned Evelyn Byrne of IPAS about the contract awarded to Trailhead Unlimited and the fact that the company has only been formed in recent weeks and therefore has no record of having provided services to IPAS, she merely confirmed that it is a new company.