Fáilte Ireland should explain decision to sell Baltimore railway building, says councillor

FÁILTE Ireland should be given an opportunity to explain why they felt there was no other option but to sell the former railway station in Baltimore.

A local maritime heritage committee had hoped to lease the premises and make it an amenity for all of the community to enjoy but they were recently informed that the property is now ‘sale agreed’.

At the last monthly meeting of the West Cork Municipal District, Cllr Paul Hayes (Ind) asked Council officials to write to Fáilte Ireland but no letter was sent. Cllr Hayes repeated his request at the recent meeting saying he’d very much like to know how a community asset, which was given to them by the railway authority, could be sold to a private developer.

Noreen O’Mahony, senior executive officer, said she had gone into the background and she learned that the suggested cost of upgrading the building, the business plan submitted by the heritage group, and the terms of the lease as set out by Fáilte Ireland, would have exposed Cork County Council to a significant risk.

‘Our understanding is that a structural survey was carried out and that a significant sum was needed to bring the building into use,’ she said. ‘We asked the third party (the heritage group) if they would be in a position to carry out these works and a business plan was submitted.’

She said the business plan fell short of what was required, but Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) was adamant that the building ‘should have been kept for the community’. ‘I can’t see the new buyers spending €600,000 on upgrading the building,’ said Cllr Carroll, who questioned the feasibility of feasibility studies.

Cllr Hayes said public representatives who had been working with the heritage group were very disappointed that the Council had ‘stepped back’ from the proposed project. ‘We felt we were part of a process to develop a project there and then, all of a sudden, the building was closed and sold to a private developer,’ he added.

Cllr Hayes said the issue was raised at a recent tourism strategic policy committee meeting and they didn’t get any clarification at that meeting either. ‘We are none the wiser,’ he said.

‘It should never have been sold,’ said Cllr Carroll. ‘But the horse is gone and there is no point in closing the gate.’

Cllr Karen Coakley (Ind) said she spoke to Fáilte Ireland directly and they told her they were not in the property business. ‘So this sale doesn’t make sense,’ she said. ‘We all want to know how they came to their decision to sell.’