Councillor David McGuinness
Overhanging rates bill from council should not apply to community facility.
Councillor David McGuinness has called for a solution in relation to the pending closure of the Tyrrelstown Youth Services. To date, has been run out of a vacant commercial unit in Tyrrelstown shopping centre with the consent of the local developers. No permanent lease has ever existed, which has always been a concern, but the set up facilitated the establishment of youth services inTyrrelstown and garnered broad support.
However, the Tyrrelstown Youth Service has been given 4 weeks to leave their premises which they have put considerable sums of money into in order to develop a quality facility. They also maintain that their is not suitable accommodation in the vicinity. In response to Councillor McGuinness, an official described the predicament:
“The new Tyrrelstown Centre is a welcome facility to the community and could potentially be used for youth programmes, however as it privately managed it seems very unlikely that we could have a specific youth room for all youth activity to be based out of as well as accommodating the youth officer for the Tyrrelstown area. While this has been the practice in other Council Community Centres (as well as in the newly VEC managed Phibblestown space), and has worked extremely well, the model operating in the Tyrrelstown Centre is new to us.”
This latest development also affects Failte Isteach, Blanchardstown Area Partnership and the Tyrrelstown Community Games. Furthermore, there is another issue also facing the youth project and that is the Fingal rates bill which has recently been presented to them, there is an outstanding charge of rates to the previous tennants (now vacating the premises next door) amounting to somewhere in the region of €24,000 as well as charge for this current year to ourselves which also needs to be addressed.
Fingal should review the Valuations Act under Schedule 4 subsections 10, 15, 16 which permits properties not to be rated for local-authority rates should the premises in questions be used for education, community and/or not for profit. Tyrrelstown Youth Services are providing a service to the community and should not be imposed with an excessive rates’ bill. Also, the VEC, Blanchardstown Youth Services, Fingal County Council and resident and civic representatives should work out s solution to ensure these services continue for the Tyrrelstown Community,” concluded McGuinness.
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