Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0001-9178-5517

Document Type

Conference Paper

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

Architecture engineering, Construction engineering

Publication Details

FIG 2018 conference Embracing our smart world where the continents connect. Enhancing the Geospatial maturity of societies

Abstract

The subjective nature of the definitions and lack of guidance under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 and the Local Government Sanitary Services Act 1964 (Ireland) have led to inconsistent applications of the Acts and a reluctance to enforce. Dereliction has been a blight on the scenic beauty and attractiveness of town and countryside in Ireland, taking away from their appeal to inhabitants, investors and tourists. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 was introduced to empower local authorities in the remediation of problem sites. Part 8 of the Act requires that Local Authorities keep a register of derelict sites. The register is used to apply a levy on lands and to encourage owners to remediate sites. Part 10 of the Act requires that Local Authorities take reasonable measures to ensure that sites in their functional area does not become or continue to be Derelict.

Dangerous structures pose a problem to local authorities and many sites initially start out as Derelict Sites become dangerous over time posing a risk to property and persons. Local Authorities are liable for the safety of public areas and steps must be taken to ensure that they are made safe promptly. A recent amalgamation of North and South Tipperary County Councils have highlighted problems with the reporting and recording of Derelict Sites and Dangerous Structures due to problems interpreting the definition of what is derelict and what is dangerous when sites are assessed by different professionals.

The lack of uniform standards for site assessment can lead to problems with the management of sites, they are difficult to compare and rank for prioritising sites for future action and remediation. Comprehensive research into the area of dereliction and dangerous structures was undertaken and set of criteria produced to identify what is ‘Derelict’ and what is ‘Dangerous’ based on a critical combination of site indicators, group decisions and geographical data.

It is possible to quantify dereliction and danger by using a web and smartphone application and Feature Manipulation Engine (FME) software. The generation of standardized sites scores from the data input using the smartphone app combined with weighted thematic maps in a GIS environment allow problem sites to be ranked in order of priority for remediation works. A GIS-based web application offers an effective solution to the above problem by removing the subjectivity from the definition of derelict sites and dangerous structures

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/38fy-hj56

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