Mayo County Council under fire over emergency housing
The council has been urged more to tackle the housing crisis in the county.
There are calls for Mayo County Council to do more to tackle dereliction and homelessness.
At the monthly meeting of the local authority, Cllr Harry Barrett called for the appointment of a derelict sites officer in each Municipal District.
“In light of the escalating housing and rental crisis in Mayo and the unacceptably high number of derelict and vacant properties in the county; I hereby propose that this Council demands the appointment of an additional Derelict Sites Officer for each electoral area to give a more meaningful and impactful use of the Derelict Sites Act 1990. Secondly, that each Derelict Sites Officer, in each electoral area, would furnish a yearly report to this Authority outlining the actions taken using the Act,” stated Cllr Barrett.
He said having 261 derelict sites in the county is “unacceptable in the middle of a housing crisis.” “Dereliction is a scourge in every town and village,” added Cllr Mark Duffy.
Cllr Barrett and Cllr Michael Kilcoyne hit out at the council’s record on homelessness and emergency accommodation.
Cllr Kilcoyne pointed out the case of a family from Castlebar who were told they would have to move to emergency accommodation. “How are there children supposed to get to school?,” he asked, before accusing Mayo County Council of a lack of compassion.
“It’s not good enough,” Cllr Kilcoyne added.
The Independent councillor requested a report on how many people who sought emergency accommodation had be to housed away from their hometown.
Cllr Barrett had previously highlighted the family’s case. The family of five were pushed into homelessness after their landlord sought the property back with no available housing in Castlebar as an emergency measure.
