New €150m fund avaialble to tackle urban vacancy and dereliction
Following a recent announcement of a new €150m fund to takle urban vacancy and dereliction, the state of the buildings in Narrow West Street came up for discussion once again at yesterday’s Drogheda Borough District meeting.
Raising the issue, Independent Councillor Paddy McQuillan said that while the Council’s much-vaunted Westgate Vision project was very welcome it does not include Narrow Street.
“We need to start a conversation now about Narrow West Street” he said. “We need to find ways to improve the area which is in a very sorry state and is letting the town down.”
“There is new funding available from the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF) but if we don’t have a plan in place we will miss out” he added.
Supporting Cllr. McQuillan’s call, Cllr. James Byrne said he had received an update from Minister Darragh O’Brien’s office outlining the rolling fund of €150m which would be made available to local authorities through the URDF in the coming weeks.
“This support has been specifically designed to address long term vacancy and dereliction across our towns and cities” Byrne said. “Basically, the fund will allow Louth County Council to acquire vacant or derelict properties and renovate them for re-use or for sale.
“The fund would then be replenished from the proceeds received allowing the Council to put in place a rolling programme of acquisitions in order to tackle long term vacancy and dereliction without having to borrow.
“Louth County Council needs to put Narrow West Street at the top of its agenda regarding this funding and if they only do it one building at a time it will bring huge changes to the street over time.”
Cllr. McQuillan replied that, whilst everyone knew about the money coming it is vital that we are ready and have a plan in place and apply for it.
