Council fails in bid to acquire vacant filling station

Meath County Council has failed in its bid to compulsorily acquire a vacant filling station at Johnstown, Navan, after An Coimisiún Pleanala refused consent to its application.

The council had moved to compulsorily acquire the site under the Derelict Sites Act but the owner, Edward Cunningham, Athlumney, Navan, objected claiming that the property did not meet the statutory definition of derelict. He argued that it was structurally sound and is maintained.

Located on the junction of the Metges Road and Kentstown Road in Navan, the property sits on just over an acre and is zoned residential.

It was earmarked by Meath County Council as a potential site for a 32-bed homeless hub if successful in its application to acquire the property.

The owner has objected to the acquisition on a number of grounds. Among the points made was that the property did 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 was underway at a value significantly higher than compensation under compulsory acquisition.

Last week, An Coimisiun Pleanala rejected the council's bid to compulsorily acquire the property and did not feel it was a proportionate intervention at this time.

While Pleanala's own inspector was satisfied that it met the definition of derelict site and recommended the application be consented to, when it went to the full board, the council's application was refused.

The Commission considered that "notwithstanding the unsightly condition of the subject property which detracts to a degree from the appearance of land in the neighbourhood, the site does not come within the definition of a derelict site as defined in Section 3 of the Derelict Sites Act, 1990, as amended".

The Commission was not satisfied that the compulsory acquisition of the site by the local authority, at this time, was necessary in order to render the site non-derelict and to prevent it continuing to be a derelict site.

"It is therefore considered that the objection made can be sustained, having regard to that said necessity and that the compulsory acquisition and its effects on the property rights of affected landowners are not proportionate to that objective and not justified by the exigencies of the common good at this time."

In deciding not to accept the Inspector’s recommendation, the Commission noted the Inspector was satisfied that "the buildings are structurally sound and watertight, not in a dangerous or ruinous condition, well maintained and with no litter or rubbish evident on site, albeit the site is somewhat unsightly in its current vacant condition".

The Commission was therefore satisfied that the site does not come within the definition of a derelict site as defined in Section 3 of the Derelict Sites Act, 1990, as amended, and the compulsory acquisition of the site is not a proportionate intervention at this time.