PLANS FOR the long-awaited €60 million regeneration of the Dublin City Council flat complexes at O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála.
The dilapidated estates were two of five schemes in the city which were to have been redeveloped under a public-private partnership (PPP) deal between developer Bernard McNamara and Dublin City Council.
The deal with Mr McNamara collapsed in May 2008 following the downturn in the property market. Attempts were made throughout that summer to rescue the schemes but these were unsuccessful and the council formally terminated its relationship with the developer in August 2008.
The following December the council announced it would rebuild the social housing in the three largest estates – St Michael’s, O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street. The other two proposed developments at Infirmary Road and Seán McDermott Street were not existing social housing complexes with residents needing rehousing, and the schemes have been shelved.
The council expects to spend around €32 million over a 10-year period to build around 200 houses and flats on the site of O’Devaney Gardens, a 1950s flat complex near the Phoenix Park. The application being made to An Bord Pleanála today is 110 units. The buildings, 60 of which will be social units and 50 of which will be private housing, will be between two and four storeys in height. A public park is also included in the application.
At Dominick Street, the 1970s flats are to be replaced by 120 social units over a 10-year period at a cost of about €27 million. The current application is for 58 apartments and duplex units ranging in height from two to six storeys. The plans also include a community centre, a civic plaza and a new street. Both developments must go now through the planning process with An Bord Pleanála. The period for observations or objections to be made in relation to either development will not start until January 10th and will run for six weeks.
While the plot for the new apartments at Dominick Street has been cleared, demolition is ongoing at O’Devaney Gardens, which was the scene of riots following the collapse of the PPP scheme in 2008. Violent incidents reached their peak in August when fighting after a wedding led to the attendance of several dozen gardaí at the complex.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label housing and regeneration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label housing and regeneration. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Council to submit plans for O'Devaney Gardens project
THE REGENERATION of the troubled O’Devaney Gardens has moved a step closer with the decision by Dublin City Council to submit planning permission to An Bord Pleanála for the project in November.
City councillors will today be asked to approve the demolition of five blocks of flats known as “the luxuries” to pave the way for the new development.
The 1950s council flat complex was one of five social housing schemes in the city which were to have been developed under a public private partnership deal between developer Bernard McNamara and Dublin City Council.
Following several delays, the deal with Mr McNamara collapsed in May 2008. Attempts were made throughout that summer to rescue the schemes but these were unsuccessful. The council formally terminated its relationship with the developer in August 2008.
Later that year the council announced it would rebuild the social housing in the three largest estates – St Michael’s, O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street.
O’Devaney Gardens was the scene of riots during the summer of 2008 which resulted in several arrests. Violent incidents reached their peak in August when fighting after a wedding led to the attendance of several dozen gardaí at the complex.
Four blocks of empty flats, which were repeatedly set ablaze during these incidents, were subsequently razed. The council now intends to demolish a further five blocks of 80 flats to make way for the construction of social and affordable housing at a cost of about €30 million.
The flats are known as “the luxuries” as they were originally built as private housing in the 1950s but were taken over by the council for social housing soon after construction. However, they are in a similar state of neglect and dilapidation as the other blocks in the estate which were known as “the long balconies”, so called as access to each flat is off a communal balcony.
Some of the long balcony flats will remain after the demolition programme as they are not needed for the first phase of development.
While the plans to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála have yet to be finalised it is envisaged that a supermarket could occupy part of the land where the luxuries now stand.
Local Labour councillor Emer Costello, who will today support the demolition proposal, said she was glad progress towards regeneration was finally being made.
“The demolition of the luxuries, along with the previous demolition of the derelict blocks will give sufficient space to get development under way,” she said.
“Hopefully we could see construction starting by next September.”
The council’s plans for regeneration were superior to the McNamara proposals as they were far lower density with blocks of four storeys instead of eight, Ms Costello said.
While residents were happy progress was being made, there was still frustration over the delays in regeneration, she added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
City councillors will today be asked to approve the demolition of five blocks of flats known as “the luxuries” to pave the way for the new development.
The 1950s council flat complex was one of five social housing schemes in the city which were to have been developed under a public private partnership deal between developer Bernard McNamara and Dublin City Council.
Following several delays, the deal with Mr McNamara collapsed in May 2008. Attempts were made throughout that summer to rescue the schemes but these were unsuccessful. The council formally terminated its relationship with the developer in August 2008.
Later that year the council announced it would rebuild the social housing in the three largest estates – St Michael’s, O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street.
O’Devaney Gardens was the scene of riots during the summer of 2008 which resulted in several arrests. Violent incidents reached their peak in August when fighting after a wedding led to the attendance of several dozen gardaí at the complex.
Four blocks of empty flats, which were repeatedly set ablaze during these incidents, were subsequently razed. The council now intends to demolish a further five blocks of 80 flats to make way for the construction of social and affordable housing at a cost of about €30 million.
The flats are known as “the luxuries” as they were originally built as private housing in the 1950s but were taken over by the council for social housing soon after construction. However, they are in a similar state of neglect and dilapidation as the other blocks in the estate which were known as “the long balconies”, so called as access to each flat is off a communal balcony.
Some of the long balcony flats will remain after the demolition programme as they are not needed for the first phase of development.
While the plans to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála have yet to be finalised it is envisaged that a supermarket could occupy part of the land where the luxuries now stand.
Local Labour councillor Emer Costello, who will today support the demolition proposal, said she was glad progress towards regeneration was finally being made.
“The demolition of the luxuries, along with the previous demolition of the derelict blocks will give sufficient space to get development under way,” she said.
“Hopefully we could see construction starting by next September.”
The council’s plans for regeneration were superior to the McNamara proposals as they were far lower density with blocks of four storeys instead of eight, Ms Costello said.
While residents were happy progress was being made, there was still frustration over the delays in regeneration, she added.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Estates of emergency
They were promised regeneration. Now the residents of many of Dublin's most under-privileged estates – half-boarded and destitute – face worsening not better conditions.
After developer Bernard McNamara pulled out of a scheme to redevelop local authority schemes last year, Dublin City Council established a special task force to review some of the capital's most run-down and bleak estates. Now, the review results are coming in – and many residents who thought their homes were in line for a facelift look set to be disappointed, and left living in half-boarded up estates.
Croke Villas
Hidden under the looming shadow of Croke Park and half boarded-up, Croke Villas stands as a stark contrast to the economically thriving stadium. The thousands who pass through the turnstiles of Croke Park need never come into contact with this estate just minutes away, which from the outside looks like a derelict site. However, at least 100 people are trapped in what they describe as limbo, now that their regeneration plans have fallen foul of developers and economics.
In a document circulated by Dublin City Council and seen by the Sunday Tribune, the current status of the city regeneration projects has been laid bare. In the cold context of Croke Villas it is stated: "Public Private Partnership competition abandoned. Working group established to examine all options for the re-development of this site." While the document goes on to re-affirm the council's commitment to the area, residents tell a different story. "We are considering setting up a new account and putting all the rent into it, and not giving it to the council until they start to open their eyes," says Paula Mitchell, long-time resident of the villas and chair of the Croke Park Residents' Association.
"The conditions here are dire. The maintenance has been cut [Dublin City Council announced a €30m cut in maintenance-funding recently] and we are living in dereliction. One girl who lives on the bottom floor is surrounded on both sides by nothing but empty boarded-up flats from those who were moved on. How can we live here anymore? This place is cold, it's creepy, desolate and unfriendly. It is dangerous – there are drug addicts on the site, and left any longer it will spiral out of control."
Mitchell articulates the disappointment of hundreds of other tenants across Dublin when she speaks of the broken promises on projects like Croke Villas. In the words of lord mayor of Dublin Emer Costello, on the promises of developers and public private partnership schemes: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Costello is currently putting pressure on housing minister Michael Finneran to visit the villas in person "to see with his own eyes the conditions these people are living in – conditions no human should have to live in".
Now, the residents are taking matters into their own hands and looking to find an architect to draw up regeneration plans. They estimate the figure for the council to revitalise the area will be in the region of €6m, a relatively small amount, says Costello. "In comparison to other projects, it really is not that much. Given that these people decided not to leave and de-tenant as they had faith and believed in the commitment to re-build the community, it is a small price to ask.
"This wasn't just a housing regeneration. It was a social regeneration too. Residents waited and stuck with it. And so it is the people who bought into this model that are the ones who suffer the worst. Without a doubt, they are betrayed and they cannot be left high and dry while those who caused this mess walk away without consequence."
When Costello speaks of those who have scarpered, she refers to both councilors and developers. The empty flats in Croke Villas combined with a newly settled sense of despair have led to an increase in anti-social behaviour – something various different lobby groups maintain they had been brought to an all-time low by promises of change and better living conditions.
Pest infestations have become a common feature for the miniscule flats as the unoccupied units are left to fester and decay. One of the residents recently approached Dublin Inner City Partnership boss Patrick Gates to tell him she feared leaving her flat after coming out to find an addict snorting cocaine on her balcony. This is a practice the residents say was dying out when all involved looked towards a future of new homes.
A short while away in St Teresa's Gardens the situation is strikingly similar...
St Teresa's Gardens
When Dublin City Council established its regeneration task force for these predominantly inner city areas, three developments were categorised as priority and given the green light. These were O'Devaney Gardens, St Michael's Estate and Dominick Street. What has come to light, however, is that St Teresa's Gardens was fourth on that list – not quite important enough to get the coveted council consent.
Just last week, the news that residents dreaded arrived yet again in the form of a council committee meeting document outlining the task review results. "St Teresa's Gardens, review completed. Project board has decided to abandon the competition for this project." Seventy flats lie empty and the rest are occupied by those who opted into the plans.
"Of all the regeneration projects that we thought would be put on the back burner, we really thought that this would not be one of them. We are shocked, saddened and a certain sense of apathy, which is dangerous in itself, is starting to show here," says resident Kris Taylor. She has taken the same tack as those in Croke Villas and has started to look towards ways in which the community as a whole can renew the area. Ten years ago St Teresa's, in the midst of drug pushers, criminal activity and violence, began a project of renewal. Now a decade and a dozen promises later, Taylor is not hopeful for a future funded by developers or council bodies.
Worryingly, a growing number of suicides in the estate have added to the morale of devastation shrouding this area. "We are going to set up some kind of counselling board of our own. It looks like we will need to take matters into our own hands now from the full-scale regeneration right down to the recycling." There are some matters, however, that neither Taylor nor her neighbours can deal with themselves. "The estate is overflowing with rubbish, families are overcrowded in their small flats. Moreover, strangers are coming in among the area our children play in to buy their drugs off pushers. We are truly devastated."
Taylor believes this potent sense of disappointment is not relieved by the fact that the development came in at only fourth on the council's list and affirms that there is a palpable feeling that areas like O'Devaney Gardens and the attention given to their situation overshadowed the plight of St Teresa's Gardens.
Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh has been a constant campaigner within Dublin City Council to push this particular project back onto the agenda. Her brief of the area tallies with Taylor's. "Families of five and six are cramping into two bedroom flats. Teenagers are in bedrooms with younger siblings and some even with their parents.
"We owe the residents certain things from promising to push this matter further and seek funding for regeneration. But we are obliged to deliver them other things that have also been promised and not delivered. The residents were given a guarantee that maintenance would always be a top priority, but already, due to cutbacks, some of the caretaking services have been withdrawn, which is not acceptable." Ní Dhálaigh believes that St Teresa's Gardens and those living within cannot afford to be put on indefinite hold, and that the situation in areas like these may soon to turn sour should the waiting list grow any longer.
Mountainview Court
From the vantage point of an unacquainted passerby, Mountainview Court in Dublin 1 is nothing but a demolition site where run-down flat complexes once stood. To the informed observer, this site was to hold facilities necessary for the successful social regeneration of inner-city communities in Dublin. What was to be the site for a new senior citizen's home, the new location for the Lourdes Health Centre, a crèche and various other facilities is now nothing more than the rubble and remains left by the previous residents, who have now been moved on. According to the council documents: "This project has been terminated as the only remaining bidder could not secure funding. Alternative options for the re-development of this site are being examined."
Lord mayor Costello expresses particular rage over the shelving of this project, especially in relation to the Lourdes Health Centre, which was due to be relocated from its current – and insufficient – base on Sean MacDermott Street. This year, the centre celebrated 30 years of caring for the needs of the elderly in inner-city Dublin. With only three members of full-time staff caring for approximately 178 people a month, the relocation was set to give a major boost to the quality of service received by those attending. "It is a major let-down once again," says Costello. "They are now back to the drawing board on a possible, more suitable location. The work they do is of vital importance."
Countless other schemes like these have been put on "indefinite hold", and residents trapped in the nightmare that is regeneration continue tirelessly to campaign for a better quality of life and the enactment of promises made long ago. The message is clear in the eyes of Patrick Gates of the Inner City Partnership : "There must never again be a reliance on developers driven toward financial gain and not community benefit. There needs to be a complete re-look, and in a holistic way, or else the consequences will be fierce. Bricks and mortar alone will not solve this."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
After developer Bernard McNamara pulled out of a scheme to redevelop local authority schemes last year, Dublin City Council established a special task force to review some of the capital's most run-down and bleak estates. Now, the review results are coming in – and many residents who thought their homes were in line for a facelift look set to be disappointed, and left living in half-boarded up estates.
Croke Villas
Hidden under the looming shadow of Croke Park and half boarded-up, Croke Villas stands as a stark contrast to the economically thriving stadium. The thousands who pass through the turnstiles of Croke Park need never come into contact with this estate just minutes away, which from the outside looks like a derelict site. However, at least 100 people are trapped in what they describe as limbo, now that their regeneration plans have fallen foul of developers and economics.
In a document circulated by Dublin City Council and seen by the Sunday Tribune, the current status of the city regeneration projects has been laid bare. In the cold context of Croke Villas it is stated: "Public Private Partnership competition abandoned. Working group established to examine all options for the re-development of this site." While the document goes on to re-affirm the council's commitment to the area, residents tell a different story. "We are considering setting up a new account and putting all the rent into it, and not giving it to the council until they start to open their eyes," says Paula Mitchell, long-time resident of the villas and chair of the Croke Park Residents' Association.
"The conditions here are dire. The maintenance has been cut [Dublin City Council announced a €30m cut in maintenance-funding recently] and we are living in dereliction. One girl who lives on the bottom floor is surrounded on both sides by nothing but empty boarded-up flats from those who were moved on. How can we live here anymore? This place is cold, it's creepy, desolate and unfriendly. It is dangerous – there are drug addicts on the site, and left any longer it will spiral out of control."
Mitchell articulates the disappointment of hundreds of other tenants across Dublin when she speaks of the broken promises on projects like Croke Villas. In the words of lord mayor of Dublin Emer Costello, on the promises of developers and public private partnership schemes: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Costello is currently putting pressure on housing minister Michael Finneran to visit the villas in person "to see with his own eyes the conditions these people are living in – conditions no human should have to live in".
Now, the residents are taking matters into their own hands and looking to find an architect to draw up regeneration plans. They estimate the figure for the council to revitalise the area will be in the region of €6m, a relatively small amount, says Costello. "In comparison to other projects, it really is not that much. Given that these people decided not to leave and de-tenant as they had faith and believed in the commitment to re-build the community, it is a small price to ask.
"This wasn't just a housing regeneration. It was a social regeneration too. Residents waited and stuck with it. And so it is the people who bought into this model that are the ones who suffer the worst. Without a doubt, they are betrayed and they cannot be left high and dry while those who caused this mess walk away without consequence."
When Costello speaks of those who have scarpered, she refers to both councilors and developers. The empty flats in Croke Villas combined with a newly settled sense of despair have led to an increase in anti-social behaviour – something various different lobby groups maintain they had been brought to an all-time low by promises of change and better living conditions.
Pest infestations have become a common feature for the miniscule flats as the unoccupied units are left to fester and decay. One of the residents recently approached Dublin Inner City Partnership boss Patrick Gates to tell him she feared leaving her flat after coming out to find an addict snorting cocaine on her balcony. This is a practice the residents say was dying out when all involved looked towards a future of new homes.
A short while away in St Teresa's Gardens the situation is strikingly similar...
St Teresa's Gardens
When Dublin City Council established its regeneration task force for these predominantly inner city areas, three developments were categorised as priority and given the green light. These were O'Devaney Gardens, St Michael's Estate and Dominick Street. What has come to light, however, is that St Teresa's Gardens was fourth on that list – not quite important enough to get the coveted council consent.
Just last week, the news that residents dreaded arrived yet again in the form of a council committee meeting document outlining the task review results. "St Teresa's Gardens, review completed. Project board has decided to abandon the competition for this project." Seventy flats lie empty and the rest are occupied by those who opted into the plans.
"Of all the regeneration projects that we thought would be put on the back burner, we really thought that this would not be one of them. We are shocked, saddened and a certain sense of apathy, which is dangerous in itself, is starting to show here," says resident Kris Taylor. She has taken the same tack as those in Croke Villas and has started to look towards ways in which the community as a whole can renew the area. Ten years ago St Teresa's, in the midst of drug pushers, criminal activity and violence, began a project of renewal. Now a decade and a dozen promises later, Taylor is not hopeful for a future funded by developers or council bodies.
Worryingly, a growing number of suicides in the estate have added to the morale of devastation shrouding this area. "We are going to set up some kind of counselling board of our own. It looks like we will need to take matters into our own hands now from the full-scale regeneration right down to the recycling." There are some matters, however, that neither Taylor nor her neighbours can deal with themselves. "The estate is overflowing with rubbish, families are overcrowded in their small flats. Moreover, strangers are coming in among the area our children play in to buy their drugs off pushers. We are truly devastated."
Taylor believes this potent sense of disappointment is not relieved by the fact that the development came in at only fourth on the council's list and affirms that there is a palpable feeling that areas like O'Devaney Gardens and the attention given to their situation overshadowed the plight of St Teresa's Gardens.
Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh has been a constant campaigner within Dublin City Council to push this particular project back onto the agenda. Her brief of the area tallies with Taylor's. "Families of five and six are cramping into two bedroom flats. Teenagers are in bedrooms with younger siblings and some even with their parents.
"We owe the residents certain things from promising to push this matter further and seek funding for regeneration. But we are obliged to deliver them other things that have also been promised and not delivered. The residents were given a guarantee that maintenance would always be a top priority, but already, due to cutbacks, some of the caretaking services have been withdrawn, which is not acceptable." Ní Dhálaigh believes that St Teresa's Gardens and those living within cannot afford to be put on indefinite hold, and that the situation in areas like these may soon to turn sour should the waiting list grow any longer.
Mountainview Court
From the vantage point of an unacquainted passerby, Mountainview Court in Dublin 1 is nothing but a demolition site where run-down flat complexes once stood. To the informed observer, this site was to hold facilities necessary for the successful social regeneration of inner-city communities in Dublin. What was to be the site for a new senior citizen's home, the new location for the Lourdes Health Centre, a crèche and various other facilities is now nothing more than the rubble and remains left by the previous residents, who have now been moved on. According to the council documents: "This project has been terminated as the only remaining bidder could not secure funding. Alternative options for the re-development of this site are being examined."
Lord mayor Costello expresses particular rage over the shelving of this project, especially in relation to the Lourdes Health Centre, which was due to be relocated from its current – and insufficient – base on Sean MacDermott Street. This year, the centre celebrated 30 years of caring for the needs of the elderly in inner-city Dublin. With only three members of full-time staff caring for approximately 178 people a month, the relocation was set to give a major boost to the quality of service received by those attending. "It is a major let-down once again," says Costello. "They are now back to the drawing board on a possible, more suitable location. The work they do is of vital importance."
Countless other schemes like these have been put on "indefinite hold", and residents trapped in the nightmare that is regeneration continue tirelessly to campaign for a better quality of life and the enactment of promises made long ago. The message is clear in the eyes of Patrick Gates of the Inner City Partnership : "There must never again be a reliance on developers driven toward financial gain and not community benefit. There needs to be a complete re-look, and in a holistic way, or else the consequences will be fierce. Bricks and mortar alone will not solve this."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Residents vote for demolition of flats and site renewal
RESIDENTS at a troubled flats complex have voted decisively for its demolition and the development of a new estate.
The results of a consultation process at Dolphin House, located in Dublin’s south inner city, will now lead to the drawing up of a "master plan" by Dublin City Council (DCC).
But council manager John Tierney told residents at Dolphin House, the second largest public flats complex in the country, the redevelopment would take time.
Dolphin House came under the spotlight three months ago when a local drug dealing gang subjected residents to a campaign of intimidation. This was in retaliation to an intensive garda operation in the complex which forced the gang to move its business elsewhere.
During the intimidation, 29 residents had their cars damaged, threats were daubed on walls, a community meeting was interrupted by a bomb scare and local activists were targeted.
A consultation report, Dolphin Decides, published yesterday found 82% of the 920 residents wanted significant regeneration, with 67% opting for full demolition.
Some 70% of residents wanted to stay in the estate and 65% said Dolphin’s greatest asset was its neighbours.
The process was carried out by the Dolphin House Community Development Association (DHCDA) after it secured agreement from DCC for resident consultation before any redevelopment.
The Dolphin Decides report found:
* much of the physical fabric of the estate is poor, especially Dolphin Park’s housing for the elderly, which falls "below any minimum standards"
* there is a "serious problem" of waste clogging up baths, showers, sinks and toilets leaving them unusable for hours and "sometimes days"
* absence of play areas and safe spaces means many families are afraid to allow their children out to play
* there are "serious social problems" including drugs and intimidation
DHCDA chair Jim Lawlor was it was vital the report’s findings were implemented.
Mr Tierney welcomed the report, but added: "I’m not going to stand here today and kid you, that in these financial times that delivery is going to be easy." But he said a project architect would be appointed this autumn.
Resident Debbie Mulhall, a mother-of-two, said: "There’s a good vibe about this redevelopment. It will take time because of the recession, but the community need it to work."
Resident Veronica Lally said: "I hope the report is implemented. I really hope this time we are not let down."
The report was launched during the Dolphin House annual summer festival.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
The results of a consultation process at Dolphin House, located in Dublin’s south inner city, will now lead to the drawing up of a "master plan" by Dublin City Council (DCC).
But council manager John Tierney told residents at Dolphin House, the second largest public flats complex in the country, the redevelopment would take time.
Dolphin House came under the spotlight three months ago when a local drug dealing gang subjected residents to a campaign of intimidation. This was in retaliation to an intensive garda operation in the complex which forced the gang to move its business elsewhere.
During the intimidation, 29 residents had their cars damaged, threats were daubed on walls, a community meeting was interrupted by a bomb scare and local activists were targeted.
A consultation report, Dolphin Decides, published yesterday found 82% of the 920 residents wanted significant regeneration, with 67% opting for full demolition.
Some 70% of residents wanted to stay in the estate and 65% said Dolphin’s greatest asset was its neighbours.
The process was carried out by the Dolphin House Community Development Association (DHCDA) after it secured agreement from DCC for resident consultation before any redevelopment.
The Dolphin Decides report found:
* much of the physical fabric of the estate is poor, especially Dolphin Park’s housing for the elderly, which falls "below any minimum standards"
* there is a "serious problem" of waste clogging up baths, showers, sinks and toilets leaving them unusable for hours and "sometimes days"
* absence of play areas and safe spaces means many families are afraid to allow their children out to play
* there are "serious social problems" including drugs and intimidation
DHCDA chair Jim Lawlor was it was vital the report’s findings were implemented.
Mr Tierney welcomed the report, but added: "I’m not going to stand here today and kid you, that in these financial times that delivery is going to be easy." But he said a project architect would be appointed this autumn.
Resident Debbie Mulhall, a mother-of-two, said: "There’s a good vibe about this redevelopment. It will take time because of the recession, but the community need it to work."
Resident Veronica Lally said: "I hope the report is implemented. I really hope this time we are not let down."
The report was launched during the Dolphin House annual summer festival.
Irish Examiner
www.buckplanning.ie
Dolphin House regeneration plans set for autumn
PLANS TO redevelop Dolphin House, one of Dublin’s largest and most troubled flat complexes, are to get under way in the autumn, according to Dublin city manager John Tierney.
Mr Tierney said he planned to appoint an architect in the coming months to begin the development of a master plan for the regeneration of the 1950s flat complex on the Grand Canal in Dolphin’s Barn.
The council intended to plan for the estate’s regeneration, despite cuts in public finances and the collapse last year of regeneration projects in five similar flat complexes in the inner city.
“One of the things we’ve learned from the past is that the level of preparation done in the down times is critical when an upturn comes . . . I’m hopeful that the Government will prioritise regeneration in the future,” Mr Tierney said.
He said he could give no date for when the redevelopment of the complex would begin, but the council would do everything in its power to ensure that Dolphin House was regenerated.
Mr Tierney was speaking at the launch of a report from the Dolphin House Community Development Association, which found that more than two-thirds of people living in the flat complex wanted it demolished.
With about 920 residents, the complex is second only in size to Ballymun. For more than 20 years, the estate has been blighted by drug dealing and other serious crime but the report found that the majority of people wanted to stay in the estate.
“Regeneration of Dolphin House and Dolphin Park offers the potential to end a cycle of poverty and social disadvantage in this large community,” Rory Hearne, regeneration worker with the development association, said.
Now was the ideal time to regenerate the estate, he added, as the costs of reconstruction were much lower than in recent years.
“As Dolphin is at the heart of a key area of Dublin city, regeneration also has the potential to create knock-on economic and social benefits and job-creation opportunities for the surrounding community.”
The report found that 82 per cent of residents want significant regeneration, with 67 per cent wanting full demolition and 70 per cent wanting to stay in the estate.
They said tackling the social problems of the area must be given as much time as dealing with the physical makeover and called for no delays in the regeneration.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mr Tierney said he planned to appoint an architect in the coming months to begin the development of a master plan for the regeneration of the 1950s flat complex on the Grand Canal in Dolphin’s Barn.
The council intended to plan for the estate’s regeneration, despite cuts in public finances and the collapse last year of regeneration projects in five similar flat complexes in the inner city.
“One of the things we’ve learned from the past is that the level of preparation done in the down times is critical when an upturn comes . . . I’m hopeful that the Government will prioritise regeneration in the future,” Mr Tierney said.
He said he could give no date for when the redevelopment of the complex would begin, but the council would do everything in its power to ensure that Dolphin House was regenerated.
Mr Tierney was speaking at the launch of a report from the Dolphin House Community Development Association, which found that more than two-thirds of people living in the flat complex wanted it demolished.
With about 920 residents, the complex is second only in size to Ballymun. For more than 20 years, the estate has been blighted by drug dealing and other serious crime but the report found that the majority of people wanted to stay in the estate.
“Regeneration of Dolphin House and Dolphin Park offers the potential to end a cycle of poverty and social disadvantage in this large community,” Rory Hearne, regeneration worker with the development association, said.
Now was the ideal time to regenerate the estate, he added, as the costs of reconstruction were much lower than in recent years.
“As Dolphin is at the heart of a key area of Dublin city, regeneration also has the potential to create knock-on economic and social benefits and job-creation opportunities for the surrounding community.”
The report found that 82 per cent of residents want significant regeneration, with 67 per cent wanting full demolition and 70 per cent wanting to stay in the estate.
They said tackling the social problems of the area must be given as much time as dealing with the physical makeover and called for no delays in the regeneration.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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