THE annual conservation grant allocated to the Council, administered on behalf of the Department of Housing, is totally inadequate and barely scratches the surface in terms of meeting the demands of property owners.
That’s according to Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin, who told the Limerick Post that the total grant to cover the entire city and county is €188,800.
“In the city alone we have a magnificent historical Georgian area and many of these buildings are sadly not in use despite the potential for residential accommodation,” Cllr Leddin pointed out.
“In recent years, we have started to see some works undertaken by the owners of these buildings and it is great to see new life being brought back into our city streets as these refurbished building become occupied.
However, as many of the Georgian buildings are protected structures or listed within defined architectural areas, there are considerable costs involved in both the maintenance and materials that must be used as part of their redevelopment.
“From speaking with some of the owners of these properties, they have been very complementary of the Planning Department in terms of advice and support, however, the biggest challenges remain accessing additional funds,” he explained.
The City West representative went onto say that, based on the geographical size of Limerick and the quantity of historic and listed buildings, the annual conservation budget should be approximately €1.5 million.
“In previous years, prior to the merger of the two councils, the combined conservation grant was in excess of €700,000 and this was cut drastically during the economic crash and never increased following the merger of the two councils.
“We cannot expect the owners of these properties to invest significant funding into these buildings for future residential use without some incentives and support to preserve and enhance their historical character,” he concluded.
