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Sandyford site must be completed or placed on Derelict Site Register

Fine Gael TD Peter Mathews said today “A large number of constituents have contacted me regarding the former Fleming “Sentinel” Site in Sandyford Industrial Estate. They have complained that a large quantity of litter, rubbish, debris and building waste has been left on the site since construction work ceased in 2007. There is also a large amount of stagnant water on the site that has the appearance of an artificial lake. This is visible from nearby apartments and is very unsightly.

 
The local Fine Gael TD, Peter Mathews, raised the matter with the Junior Minister with responsibility for Housing, Jan O’Sullivan, in the Dáil.
 
The Minister stated that the Derelict Sites Act allows the Council to charge a levy to the owners of land which has been entered onto the derelict sites register. This levy is payable until the dereliction ceases. When Peter Mathews asked whether incomplete buildings constitute a derelict site, the Minister replied that a site is considered derelict if there is “the presence of structures which are in a ruinous, derelict or dangerous condition”. The Minister went on to confirm that, if the site is placed on the Derelict Sites Register, the Council has the power to carry out the completion of construction on the site and then recover the expenses involved from the owners.
 
Peter Mathews formally complained about the condition of the site and requested that it be placed on the Derelict Sites Register on 31st January. Since lodging the formal complaint, the new owners of the tower have confirmed that the tower will be completed once tenants have been secured.
 
“This will be a very welcome development. The shell of the building is an appalling eyesore. It is a symbol of everything that went wrong in the country in the past few years. The completion of the building will be a sign that Sandyford Business District is proving resilient, making significant commercial advances and trading well through the recession.
 
“The rest of the site remains in the control of the banks through receivers. Other parts of the site remain covered in unsightly rubbish and stagnant water. I hope that the request to place the site on the Derelict Sites Register will be a sufficient incentive for the receivers to ensure that the site is kept neat and tidy and does not detract from the visual appearance of the area.
 
“The law considers a site to be derelict if there is ‘the presence, deposit or collection of any litter, rubbish, debris or waste’. Unfortunately, this is precisely the state of an area of the site. While the Derelict Sites Act was not intended to address problems such as abandoned construction sites, I am hoping that the Council will be flexible and use a common sense approach to resolve this matter if the receivers do not agree to clean up the site.

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