Mayo councillor seeks clarity on plans for former hotel
Cllr Deirdre Lawless
A local councillor has called into question the rationale for development works at the former Belmont Hotel in Knock.
At last week's meeting of Mayo County Council, Aontú Cllr Deirdre Lawless repeatedly asked for confirmation from council management that the works at the hotel were for the purpose of making it a four-star hotel, and not a centre for international protection applicants. She told the meeting that local people were told the hotel would be restored a number of years ago but it was then used to house Ukrainian migrants.
“Given the mistrust from this, people deserve to know the truth and I would like to see it in writing”, she told management, adding: “I am also asking MCC to write to the Minister for Justice and ask. We are being told right now it will be a four-star hotel and I want to know that the Department has no other plans for it or will not consider it in future as an IPAS centre. I am calling for transparency.”
However, Cllr Gerry Coyle said it was wrong to put out reports into the public domain that were not true, saying: “These reports cause great anxiety for people.”
Director of Services Catherine McConnell clarified that the so-called Section 5 process being employed by developers of accommodation centres "is simply a declaration and not an application for planning". Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, a Section 5 declaration is a formal request to a planning authority to determine if a specific development proposal requires planning permission or is considered exempted.
Ms McConnell said she was unsure whether a Section 5 had even been sought for the Belmont Hotel.
Responding to a call from Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, Ms McConnell agreed to look into the number of Section 5s applied for in Mayo and to report on it at a later date.
Director of Services Tom Gilligan told Cllr Lawless: “There was no agreement in place with the council on this hotel. The owners had initially looked for one. They are committed as far as I am aware at this stage to turning it into a hotel for locals."
