Call for business support as Larne town centre street reopens after 18-month closure

Dunluce Street had to be closed to traffic as a safety precaution due to the condition of a derelict building.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has taken legal action over the building resulting in a court order being served on a property owner to undertake repairs before a council contractor carried out the work.

In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr McKeen said: “I am delighted to see that Dunluce Street has finally been reopened (Friday). This hopefully sees normality returning for the businesses operating in this area.

“It has been too long to to get this resolved and there must be a quicker solution to deal with unsafe structures. The current legislation needs amended to give the local authority more flexibility to move in and resolve these issues.

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“I am also looking for Land and Property Services to help and support the business affected by them getting a substantial relief on their rates for the last 18 months.”

A quarter of properties in Larne town centre are vacant, according to an audit carried out by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council last year. Of these, 12 buildings are either vacant or derelict and deemed unfit for occupancy with Dunluce Street and Point Street the worst affected.

Cllr McKeen has requested recently that the council sends an invitation to Communities Minister Gordon Lyons asking him to tour Mid and East Antrim’s town centres. He stated the Department for Communities has responsibility for revitalisation and that it should provide a strategy to tackle town centre vacancy.

Cllr McKeen has also noted the former Dunnes Stores premises at Main Street in Larne remains unoccupied. The retail outlet is on the market for £1m.

Mark Dobbin, vice-chair of Larne Business Forum, has welcomed the reopening of the street. “It is an absolute disgrace it has taken 18 months to board a few windows up, take trees out and fix the corner of a building,” he added.

Mr Dobbin urged the council to assess the condition of some other buildings on the street in a bid to avoid another potential closure in the future. He called on Land and Property Services to consider that businesses and residents have been affected for the past 18 months when assessing potential for rates relief.

In an online post, the Sally Ann (Salvation Army) shop, which has a branch at Dunluce Street, said: “After a very long 18 months, Dunluce Street has reopened for traffic. We are delighted our valued customers can now drive and park at the front of the shop easily once again.”

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has been asked for a comment.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter