Council buying house linked with anti-social behaviour

Meath Co Council is currently in process of buyng a number of derelict houses on New Bridge Navan, some of which have proven a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

The council has confirmed that they are have already acquired one of the buildings and are negotiating the purchase of the adjacent houses.

“We have funding for this project under the urban regeneration scheme.

“We are buying the houses with a view to bringing them back into use, which will improve the appearance of the area.

“It will also improve security at the entrance to the park to the rear of the houses.”

The area has been a source of anti social behaviour for some time and three years ago, a Meath Chronicle investigation discovered that one of the buildings was being used as a drug den.

Three of the houses had been boarded up and were inaccessible but one was open with evidence of it being used for drug taking.

Strips of tin foil scorched with the stains of cooked heroin was littered around the building and syringes with needles still attached were scattered in every room of the house.

The late Sinn Fein Cllr Joe Reilly described it at the time as “One of the worst places for drug abuse” he had ever seen and called on the council to carry out an assessment of Andy Brennan Park, which is to the rear of the buildings.

At the time the owner of the house had said he was “perturbed” that it was constantly being broken into and vandalised. “It has been boarded up several times, but they break in again. There doesn't seem to be any way of restraining them. They seem to have no concept of private property,” he said.

In November 2018, Minister Damien English announced €3.7 million in Urban Regeneration funding for projects in Navan.

The projects identified were Navan Active Land Management, Flowerhill Regeneration and the Railway Street & County Archive Regeneration and the money would allow the Council acquire sites which have been identified for regeneration, including properties on Flowerhill, Abbey Road and the Kentstown Road.

The Urban Regeneration and Development fund (URDF) has an overall allocation of €2 billion to 2027 and the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government has responsibility for implementation of the URDF.

The fund is the largest urban regeneration initiative in Ireland for decades and was established to support more compact and sustainable development, through the regeneration of and rejuvenation of Ireland’s cities and large towns, in line with the objectives of Project Ireland 2040.