Mr. Gordon Daly:

Our programme of dealing with dereliction and, by extension, CPOs is part of a wider, overall strategy to improve our city and our towns and villages as places in which to live, work, invest and so on.

When we started this we were a relatively new local authority. We had been merged in 2014 and we had not done any CPOs in three or four years, so we started off small. We built expertise in and knowledge of this and started off with one or two projects. We figured out the process and have gradually built up that expertise and knowledge over time because we have put the resources into this area and prioritised it. We have seen the wider benefits it can bring, not just in dealing with dereliction in itself but also by bringing on housing supply and supporting the work of communities. Tidy Towns groups can get very frustrated if they see dereliction in their towns and villages. Small enterprises and so on can be created out of such buildings. We have done what we have done by building up our expertise and knowledge over the past few years and putting resources into this.