Heated exchanges as Carlow County Council approves sale of land to Shaws
Shaw Department Store on Tullow Street, Carlow
THERE were several heated exchanges at October’s meeting of Carlow Co Council during a debate on the sale of council land on Green Road to Shaws, which was eventually approved. The council agreed to sell the land to Shaws for €150,000.
Cllr Will Paton spoke first. He asked if the site had been independently valued, if, given its proximity to the town centre it should be used for social housing and if the sale met the Department of Public Expenditure’s circular 17/2016, which outlines public service policy for property acquisition and the disposal of surplus state property.
Cllr Adrienne Wallace then raised questions as to why the site had been rejected as a possible location for the building of social homes on the basis that it could only deliver six; whether the report on why it was not suitable was written after the decision to sell to Shaws had been made; and expressed concern about the €150,000 valuation for what she deemed to be “prime land in the town centre”.
Cllr Wallace was interrupted by council CEO Coilín O’Reilly, who told her that an independent valuation of the site had taken place and he asked if she could cease casting “aspersions on staff and people involved in that”.
Cllr Wallace replied that she had not seen the independent valuation.
“So you don’t believe that we had an independent evaluation?” Mr O’Reilly asked.
Cllr Wallace said that she would like to see it and that other sites were zoned for commercial use and that she would rather see six houses be built than Shaws expand the site.
Cllr Fintan Phelan then spoke in support of the sale, saying that it had already been debated at length by the municipal district. “And I think the council have done its due diligence in relation to that and prepared a report to see if this site is suitable for housing or not. And that report, and you have to trust the advice of our housing officials, is very clear from the director of housing in that this is not a suitable site for housing,” cllr Phelan said.
Cllr Wallace interrupted cllr Phelan several times.
“Unfortunately, some counsellors don’t like when truth and facts are actually said in this chamber. There seems to be a real anti-business sentiment from some councillors’ attitude here in this council,” cllr Phelan said.
He spoke in support of the sale, citing Shaws as a local employer and the process that the council had undertaken to arrive at the decision to sell and the sale price.
“This is a housing crisis and you are opposed to six houses being built,” cllr Wallace said.
“All land in Ireland can’t be used for housing,” mayor Ken Murnane retorted.
Thereafter, mayor Murnane and cllr Wallace engaged back and forth over the merits of housebuilding versus creating jobs in the community.
Cllr Micheal Doran spoke in favour of the sale and talked about the benefits of having a warehouse for a national business based in Carlow.
“From a process point of view, there is an independent valuation, which we are happy to share with councillors. If they don’t trust us, that’s fine, Mr O’Reilly.’’
He also clarified concerns about the archaeology of the site, as it borders a famine graveyard, saying that Shaws would have to follow the laws that govern building works at sites that border archaeological sites.
Mr O’Reilly also said that the value of the site was reduced by the fact that it had no pre-existing foundations or connection to a mains or sewage network.
“For all the people thinking that there is a big conspiracy here with Shaws, the report was written after, but we know the constraints,” Mr O’Reilly said.
Cllr Wallace attempted to interrupt Mr O’Reilly again and cathaoirleach Thomas Kinsella said that if he had to ask her again to stop talking, he would ask her to leave.
Mr O’Reilly then clarified the decision that had been taken some years before to not grant the scouts access to the site, which had been mentioned by cllr Wallace when she interrupted him.
“The scouts have been given a site on the Tullow Road, which is a much more appropriate site for the scouts with the social economic profile of the Tullow Road,” Mr O’Reilly said.
He also clarified the fact that under ‘Adjacent Landowner Exception’, the council can sell to an adjacent landowner without first putting the site on the open market.
Cllr John Cassin said that while he had no issue with what Mr O’Reilly had said, he asked that next time the council might be given the report into the site’s unsuitability and valuation sooner.
Cllr Phelan responded to cllr Wallace’s earlier comment: “Fianna Fáil love homelessness”, saying that she had objected to previous planning applications for housing.
Cllr Wallace shouted that he had no mandate. She spoke about what she saw as a lack of communication over the site’s future, saying that a year ago she was told it would be used for housing. She then asked about the process in which Shaws approached the council to buy the land.
Mr O’Reilly told her that Shaws made a presentation to Carlow Municipal District outlining why it wanted to buy the site.
“And as far as I'm concerned, the municipal members voted on it that day to support this sale to Shaws because of the benefit it had for Carlow,” Mr O’Reily said.
He said that the council always gets an independent valuation on sites it plans to sell.
The council then voted in favour of the sale.
