A local councillor has lamented how Tramore has 'suffered' as a result of the eight-year Grand Hotel saga.
Independent Councillor Joe Conway was speaking to WLR as the matter was discussed at District Court level for a twelfth time on Monday.
The hotel has been unoccupied and considered to be in a derelict state since 2014.
Waterford City & County Council issued a derelict sites notice in 2018 against the owner Guoqing Wu.
However, a solicitor for Waterford Council told the District Court on Monday that the local authority are 'satisfied' that all necessary works have been completed on the site - to the point where it is no longer rendered 'derelict'.
Cllr. Conway says while Mr. Wu has adhered to the letter to the law, the spirit of the law has been disregarded.
"The letter of the law has been adhered to. The spirit of the law has been very much left in abeyance. Every little piece of plywood that went in there, we had to drag from the owners. It has been torturous. I think I have been in court maybe twelve times in the last few years. It has been a torturous time, trying to get anything."
While the current condition of the Grand Hotel may satisfy the Derelict Sites Act, it does not satisfy the people of Tramore.
"The cosmetic things that have been done to the hotel are enough to satisfy the Derelict Sites Act. For the people of Tramore, the dereliction is not gone. It is just the desolation and the denial of an economic, viable hotel in the centre of the town has been denied to them. It's an entirely unsatisfactory situation."
Commitment
The Independent councillor has vowed to maintain the pressure. He wants to ensure that the site is brought back into purpose - regardless of what that purpose may be.
"My job heretofore has been to try and get it into somewhat acceptable visual presentation. Indeed, it's not ideal - it's far from that. My next job will be to set about working with the Council executive to see if we can devise some plan, which will give a viable future to that site. Be it a hotel, or something else. It cannot be left to sit there and systematically rot for the next five years - and allow us to return to the same cauldron of dereliction again."
The matter will return to court on March 26th to discuss costs.
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