Ballina site may be used for new housing project

A local councillor has called on Mayo County Council to engage with the Land Development Agency (LDA) about constructing affordable housing on the vacant Ballina Mineral Water site in the heart of the town.

Fine Gael Cllr Mark Duffy said the LDA was recently allocated an additional €1.25 billion in the Budget giving it an overall budget of €6.25 billion for the acceleration of housing delivery.

At last week’s meeting of the Ballina Municipal District, Cllr Duffy called on the local authority to work with the LDA to take on the Ballina Mineral Water site for an ambitious affordable housing town centre living project with public realm improvements, parking and landscaping.

“This is a good opportunity for a town centre revitalisation project,” he said. “The Mineral Water well is still there and people would love to be able to access that and see the tap being used again. The site seems to be in a state of stagnation currently with no plan for it.”

Cllr Duffy said he had a positive discussion with council chief executive Kevin Kelly about the proposed plan and the council should now write to the LDA to ask it to take a "serious look" at the site.

“People see it and assume we have some plan for it. We need to move with it in some way and should explore all options.

“The LDA is one option but if we’re not using it, then we need to maybe look down the road of expressions of interest from other parties.”

Council cathaoirleach Cllr John O’Hara said something needs to be done with the site.

“It is very shameful to have it there like this, all there is to it right now is paint. There are plenty of bodies out there who would invest in it if they were approached.

“Tesco bought the land near it and have done nothing with it. We have an ongoing problem with parking in the town and movement on this could go a long way towards fixing that problem.”

Director of Services Catherine McConnell said she had the impression the LDA was focusing on the large urban centres but said the council would be willing to work with the LDA if it was willing to engage. She said the municipal district office is seriously looking at the Mineral Water site to see how best to move it forward.