Owners of Trim unit oppose IPAS centre proposal

Plans for an accommodation centre for asylum seekers at an industrial unit in Trim may have to be abandoned as the owners of the premises confirmed today they will not be selling to any entity that wishes to use the property as an IPAS centre.

In a Facebook post this afternoon (Tuesday) the owners said they have made Meath County Council aware that as owners, they oppose the recent application for an exemption from planning permission for the proposal.

Planners are due to make a decision by the end of the month on the proposal by Erin Park Ltd to transform the unit in the Oak Tree Business Park into a facility for international protection applicants.

The owners said: "We have not made this application, have no involvement in or connection to the entity making the application and we were not consulted by the applicant prior to them making the application. Accordingly, we were as shocked as anyone, when news of the submission circulated late last week.

"While we are in a sale process in relation to the property, it has been made clear by us from the outset that we would not be selling the property to any prospective purchaser seeking to convert the property into an IPAS centre."

While permission from the owner of a site is needed if making a planning application, permission is not needed for an application for an exempted development.

There has been strong local criticism of the proposal.

Cllr Dave Boyne, (Aontú) said: “This development has come without consultation, transparency, or regard for the serious infrastructural and community challenges it poses.”

“Our current infrastructure is barely able to support the existing population. We have major problems with the lack of doctors in the town and the lack of Gardaí. This town is at breaking point on a range of different key services”.

“The proposed building itself is highly inappropriate. It is not suitable for families or children to live in.”

Deputy Peadar Tóibín demanded the Minister for Justice come to the next meeting of the Trim Municipal Council and engage with the people of Trim.

“There is absolutely no engagement at all. It’s not good enough," he said.

Cllr Ronan Moore said proposing to house international protection applicants in an industrial unit would be treating them as lesser people.

"We wouldn't house our own citizens there and it doesn't strike me as right that we would house anyone there," he said.

A similar exemption application for the old HSE headquarters in Kells was withdrawn last month following concerns about its suitability.

In March, Meath County Council ruled for the second time, that a proposed IPAS centre in the Kells Business Park would not be classified as an exempted development.