DESCRIBING council conservation and fire officers as ‘zealous’ for monitoring standards in bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use is unfair, it’s been claimed.

Discussing a roadshow at a recent meeting Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) asked if both conservation and fire officers from the local authority had been in attendance.

‘There is a huge push to regenerate our towns but our conservation and fire officers’ approach is too dogmatic and it’s stopping development in towns,’ said Cllr Coleman.

‘In Bandon it’s next to impossible to develop some of the derelict buildings due to zealous conservation and fire officers who are like opposite ends. There is a huge will to get the town developed but it’s next to impossible to get anything done.’

He said these people are operating in ‘silos’ and they need to get out of them.

Cllr John Michael Foley (FG) agreed with him and said there needs to be ‘a middle ground’ to get things moving and that the cost of renewing a building to the conservation or fire office standard is ‘beyond cost effective.’

‘It’s turning people off from doing anything and it is the stumbling block,’ said Cllr Foley.

However, Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) disagreed with them and said she doesn’t want tenements in her town and said she feared some of the developers are seeing Bandon as a sort of  fire sale situation where they can stack them so high because there are so many derelict buildings.

‘I want quality repurposing of our buildings and a quality finish and a safe finish for anybody who will live there. It’s important now for Bandon that laws and limits are applied correctly and safely and that the units are of good quality and not just yellow pack units where people are going to be packed in and that there will be some sort of subversion of standards,’ said Cllr Coughlan

She added that the standard of regeneration in Bandon should be high and to undermine the professionalism of council staff was ‘deplorable.’

Cllr John Collins (Ind Ire) said her comments were ‘over the top’ and all Cllr Coleman wants is more co-operation from conservation and fire officers when it comes to developing derelict properties.

Cllr Marie O’Sullivan (FG) said it’s very important to bring back vibrancy to the town and getting derelict properties back into use is very welcome.

Cllr Ann Bambury (SD) welcomed the roadshow clinics and said the next step is to now  bring empty buildings back into life.

‘There are too many empty buildings which are stagnating communities. We have a great opportunity here to engage with property owners and bring Bandon town back to its full potential.’

Padraig Barrett, manager for Bandon Kinsale Municipal District, said it was unfair to use the term ‘zealous’ when those council officers are just doing their jobs and the term he felt was unwarranted.

‘There is a balance to be struck and conservation is part of that. Safety is paramount too and a lot of these building don’t have fire certs so they pre-date the current fire standards. Bringing these back safely is important,’ he said.

The last West Cork property activation and town regeneration roadshow clinics took place in the Munster Arms Hotel in Bandon on May 27th where property owners were given practical advice and support in bringing vacant and under-utilised properties back into productive use.

A key focus of the roadshows was to showcase the various schemes available including the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme and the new Vacant Over the Shop Grant Scheme to assist in bringing vacant properties back into use.