Many hurdles to jump before homeless hub is built in Johnstown

Controversial plans by Meath County Council to provide a homeless shelter on the site of a derelict filling station on the outskirts of Navan are very much at the early stages with a lot more work to be done and hurdles to cross before any such proposal would come to fruition.

The first obstacle is the fact that the council does not yet own the one-acre site on the junction of the Metges Road and Kentstown Road. In recent months, it has moved to compulsarily acquire the site under the Derelict Sites Act but an objection has been lodged by the owner and it is currently with An Coimisiun Pleanala who will decide on their application.

As part of this compulsary acquisition process, the council must outline what it intends to do with a site if it is successful in its bid and following consultation with the housing department Meath County Council put forward a proposal for a short term accommodation facility for the homeless. There is currently no homeless shelter in County Meath.

The council is proposing a short term accommodation facility with up to 32 bedrooms and associated cooking, laundry and support facilities for single people as they transition to a more permanent housing solution.

While the planning and construction of the project would be managed by the council, it would be operated and managed by a specialist service provider.

News that the site was being earmarked for a homeless hub was met with some opposition locally particularly in the context that Johnstown still lacks basic amenities such as a community centre and playground to serve the huge population.

A dedicated website has been set up 'Nostahere.com' by those opposed to the proposal who argue that it is an inappropriate location away from essential support services. In an open letter to Meath County Council they have called on the local authority to withdraw their application to compulsorily acquire the property.

For more than a decade the former filling station and garage has been an eyesore and it was officially added to the Derelict Sites Register in Meath in March of this year. In May, the council began the process to compulsorily acquire the property. An objection was lodged by the owner of the property Edward Cunningham, Athlumney, Navan, and the matter has been referred to Coimisiún Pleanála for determination.

The owner has objected to the acquisition on a number of grounds. Among the points made is that the property does not meet the statutory definition of derelict as set out in the act, that the council failed to follow procedure under Section 8 of the act by entering the site on the Derelict Sites register without addressing reasonable offers of remediation and that an open-market sale is already underway at a value significantly higher than compensation under compulsory acquisition. The property, which is zoned residential, had recently been listed on the daft.ie website with a guide price of €950,000.

It generally takes approximately six months for An Coimisiun Pleanala to issue its decision and an indicative date of 27th January has been given for a decision in this case.

If Meath County Council's application is approved it takes ownership of the property, and at that stage more detailed proposals would be drawn up, and feasiblilty studies and other assessments would be carried out. Funding sources would also be looked at.

At this stage the council will decide whether to go ahead with its proposal for a homeless shelter or not and it is understood that there is no onus on the council to go ahead with the project that was put forward during the acquisition process.

If it decides to proceed, detailed plans will be brought forward which will go on public consultation under the part eight planning process which is essentially the planning process for projects being progressed by local authorities.

Members of the public will have their chance to make submissions or objections at that point and it will then be up to local councillors to decide whether to go ahead with it or not.

Cllr Alan Lawes, a long term advocate for the homeless has already indicated his support for a homeless shelter writing in a Facebook post that he would be a "hypocrite" if he didn't fully support the proposal to build a homeless shelter on this site. He commented that every week he is dealing "with homeless people being left out in the cold as there are no beds for them" and that he felt a well run shelter would cause absolutely no problem for local people.

At the same time, he acknowledged that Johnstown is still without facilities like a community centre or playground and said he would be looking at revisiting a previous plan by Johnstown Football Club to provide faciliites in the Johnstown People's Park, which is owned by the residents. A previous proposal was narrowly defeated a number of years ago and Cllr Lawes, who is a director of the People's Park said he would call an EGM in the new year and put the proposal to residents again.