Council criticised after sale of historic Baltimore railway building and site

The controversy surrounding the sale of an iconic railway building in Baltimore has taken a dramatic turn with councillors claiming Cork County Council has questions to answer

THE controversy surrounding the sale of a historic railway building in a prime site in Baltimore took a dramatic turn recently, and councillors now claim that Cork County Council has questions to answer.

Members of the West Cork Municipal District (WCMD) have repeatedly asked Council officials to write to Fáilte Ireland to account for the sale of the building to a private buyer on the open market.

For months, it seemed as if there would be no reply, but at the recent WCMD meeting, Fáilte Ireland’s (FI) five-page reply proved explosive.

FI’s chief executive Paul Kelly said it had engaged extensively with Cork County Council about the site, since 2006. He insisted that FI followed due process at all times and the Council had many opportunities to intervene over the course of the process, but ultimately chose not to proceed.

He explained how FI acquired the former station house from the former South West Regional Tourism Authority in 2006 – the same year it was leased to Glénans Sailing Club. But when the club closed in 2013, it reverted back to FI.

‘As the property was surplus to FI’s requirements, the board approved for the property to be sold on the open market in June 2014,’ Mr Kelly stated in his letter.

A sale was agreed in May 2015, but it subsequently fell through, and the property was listed as vacant on the Office of Public Work’s (OPW) register of State property.

In 2016, the chief executive said Cork County Council formally requested a long-term lease on the property, and FI granted the request and waivered the lease charge. FI issued the draft lease to the Council for their consideration in October 2017.

The terms of the lease required the Council to be responsible for refurbishment works, ongoing maintenance and insurance, which Mr Kelly said is ‘standard procedure’.

Under the terms of the lease, the Council would have had permission to sub-let the premises to a third party, such as Cuas – otherwise known as the West Cork Maritime Heritage Company, which had plans to create a heritage centre and exhibition space.

Members of the West Cork Municipal District discussed the proposed lease, and welcomed the maritime-themed proposal as something that would be good for the community and provide an attraction for tourists.

However, they were informed by Council officials that the local authority would be on the hook to refurbish the building at a cost that was estimated by the Council, in 2020, to be in the region of €560,000. From the period of October 2017 until January 2022, Mr Kelly said there were over 40 communications from FI’s legal team to Cork County Council in an effort to finalise the lease and transfer the property.

‘During this time, FI’s objective was for the property to be transferred to Cork Council but, finally, in January 2022, Cork County Council wrote to FI removing its interest in the property,’ he added.

Following the Council’s communication to FI in January 2022, the property was once again re-posted as surplus to requirements and went back on the OPW’s property register.

Over an 18-month period from January 2022 to July 2023, Mr Kelly said, FI also ‘explored and exhausted’ all possible avenues to have the building used within the public sector.

Prior to placing the property for sale on the open market, he said, FI offered it to Cork County Council and the Irish Red Cross for consideration as a temporary accommodation for Ukrainian citizens, but the property was deemed unsuitable because it would require extensive renovations.

FI contacted the Land Development Agency and engaged with the OPW and the National Parks and Wildlife Service advising them the property was available to them, but no public bodies submitted an interest in the property.

Mr Kelly said FL contacted Cork County Council again, in December 2022, to ascertain if the Council could use the property for social housing, affordable housing, as emergency accommodation, or for development under the Rural Regeneration schemes.

Mr Kelly referred to correspondence from Cork County Council which stated ‘the ballpark cost and timeframe for temporary Ukrainian accommodation would be in excess of €3m and at least two years to carry out the necessary works.

‘Likewise, the costs of renovation and conservation of the protected structures onsite would make any potential social housing development financially unviable,’ the Council stated in correspondence with FI.

The Council gave its opinion that ‘the costs to repair the protected structures and bring the properties back into use make it extremely challenging and potentially non-viable for a community group.’

FI also quoted correspondence from the Council which stated: ‘In this context, it appears that disposal on the open market may present the best opportunity for longterm regeneration of the site.’

Mr Kelly said the decision to sell the property was approved by the Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Public Expenditure. ‘Given that the property is a State asset, it was agreed that all the proceeds would go to the exchequer to be used for public benefit,’ he added.

In November 2023, the building was bought by Stone Work Properties Ltd, a company that Mr Kelly said has ‘a long history’ in Baltimore. ‘One of the owners and directors of Stone Work Properties is a full-time resident and the others are summer residents,’ he added.

‘The family has previously undertaken successful residential developments in Baltimore in the immediate vicinity of the property, such as Castle End and Castlefields Developments.’

The chief executive said FI ‘is not a property management company’.

He added: ‘And despite our best efforts we simply did not have the resources or remit to invest in the property at the level required to prevents its dilapidation or to develop the property for local economic benefit.

‘For six years – 2016 to January 2022 – while waiting for Cork County Council to make a decision, we remained hopeful that the Council would develop the building for local use, during which time the building deteriorated further.’

Cllr Paul Hayes (Ind) welcomed the comprehensive reply from Fáilte Ireland and noted its criticism of the Council.

‘I wouldn’t let FI off the hook completely, but some of the blame has to be laid at the footsteps of the Council authorities who were negotiating on our behalf,’ he said.

‘Cuas had made a lot of representations to the Minister and there was a lot of goodwill for the project,’ he said. ‘But we were not briefed on where things were at. We never signed off on this with the executive – at no point did we say we would walk away.’

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) said FI had put it in writing that they were continuously trying to offload it to the Council. And he wondered aloud if Fáilte Ireland deserved an apology.

‘It’s a loss to the people of Baltimore now,’ said Cllr Carroll who, together with Cllr Karen Coakley (Ind), insisted that adjacent lands – known as Bull Point – should not go the same way, but be protected for use by the community.

Noreen O’Mahony, who has just recently taken over from MacDara O hIcí as the senior executive officer in West Cork, said she would research the matter and report back to the councillors at their next monthly meeting.