This Kildare town resembles a 'ghost town' due to number of derelict buildings, councillor says

Leixlip, Co Kildare now resembles a “ghost town” due to the proliferation of derelict buildings on Main Street, a Fine Gael councillor recently told a meeting of Celbridge Leixlip Municipal District.

Cllr Paul Brooks told the meeting on October 24 that the reason he put his motion forward was that there had been no real progress in tackling dereliction or dealing with derelict buildings in Leixlip.

Cllr Brooks called on the council to hold a special meeting “to discuss what progress has been made in tackling derelict buildings in Leixlip.”

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According to Cllr Brooks, there has been an attempt by some to “pretend” that there is some building works going on in some of the buildings on Main Street, Leixlip, but something needed to be done to make real progress.

He pointed out that another high profile store in Leixlip, Tuthills, had recently ceased business, adding to the quite substantial number of derelict buildings in the town.

It was now time to “think outside the box” on how to resolve the dereliction problem, he told members.

Leixlip, he stated, over the years has begun to turn into “a real ghost town”, and there was no real progress at regeneration.

He said he'd like to have discussions with the relevant groups and representatives within Kildare County Council to see how the matter can be progressed and how the town can be revitalised.

Agreeing with Cllr Brooks, Cllr Bernard Caldwell (FF) said it was “disgraceful” what was happening in recent weeks.

According to Cllr Caldwell, some buildings on Main Street were being renovated with “second-hand doors and second-hand windows bought from scrap yards" to "make it look as if these places are going to be inhabited.”

He said it is one company who is doing this, who are making “a complete disgrace of our Main Street.”

Cllr Caldwell said this was very unfair on Leixlip Tidy Towns, and had the effect of making Leixlip look like “an old western town”, just short of “tumbleweed running up Main Street.”

A report issued by Kildare County Council stated that the Town Regeneration Team “is happy to attend a meeting to discuss progress in tackling derelict buildings in Leixlip.”