COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Monday, May 16, 2011

MOTION NO. 5

MOTION: Councillor M. Duff

That this Committee asks the Manager to make a report indicating how many Community Centres or Community Buildings are awaiting Management  Licences from South Dublin County Council and to inform the Committee of what plans, if any, are in place to expedite the issueing of such licences.

REPORT:

The Council has endeavoured for many years to provide buildings or sites for buildings for various community purposes. These buildings and lands are for the most part provided to various community organisations free of charge or for nominal rent. The facilities provided are normally funded by grants from a range of public bodies and in some cases where the Council procures the construction of the buildings, the expenditure is carried  by the Council initially until it is recouped from the grant monies. The Council endeavours insofar as possible to make the facility available to the particular Community Organisation once it becomes available for use, albeit on an informal agreement.

The process to grant a formal licence /lease is subsequently undertaken as there can be varying matters to be addressed as part of the process, including prepartation of maps, agreements regarding areas which may be common to a number of facilities, agreement on terms with the particular organisation and the funders of the facility and legal advisers. However the nature of these facilities is that they are community based and for the most part their operation is publicly funded. The absence of a formal lease /licence  does not necessarily restrict the use of the facility for the purposes for which it was provided.

The grant of a lease or licence is not normally in itself sufficient documentation to facilitate a draw down of grant funding as the funding agencies involved e.g. Department of Arts Sports & Tourism , HSE etc require to place a Charge on the title to the property to ensure the use of the grant monies for the purpose provided, for a specified period. The Council frequently enter into Deeds of Covenant and Charge with various funding agencies to enable funds to be released for the capital cost or fit out of these facilities i.e. the Council is prepared to take a charge against its title which enables funds to be drawn down without the need for title to pass to the Organistion operating the facility.  This is for the most part a seperate process to the grant of a lease or licence as the matter is usually dealt with by funding agencies and their solicitors.

The issue of these licences and leases has been an ongoing one for some time. In some cases, the Council is waiting for documents to be returned either from the particular organisation involved, or in some instances, from an agency involved in funding provision for the organisation. In other cases, finalising the legal agreements has been complicated because the land on which the building are situated is / was owned by the Dublin City Council.

There is also a need to streamline the internal  procedures implemented to issue leases and licences. The current process involves the input of several different departmentsand can be time consuming and slow.

, It is therefore proposed to carry out a full review of all the buildings affected and to bring a detailed report on each premises for the next ACM,  In the meanwhile, it is important to know that no organisation has been left short of funding as a consequence of not having thier licence  / lease in place.