Tenants Must not suffer from private sector Crisis

Posted on May 23, 2008 at 12:12 AM

The announcement today that McNamara/Castlethorn McNamara have withdrawn from the Public Private Partnership(PPP) projects which they had agreed with Dublin City Council comes as a shock to the hundreds of City Council tenants who expected to benefit from the regeneration projects in O'Devaney Gardens, Dominick Street, Infirmary Road and Sean McDermott Street.

Over 1,000 housing units were due to be provided in the O'Devaney Gardens and Infirmary Road projects, and hundreds more were due to be provided in Sean McDermott Street and Dominick Street. These integrated construction programmes of private, affordable and social housing were hailed as the key to the successful regeneration of these disadvantaged inner city communities. The withdrawal of the private developer has now thrown these schemes into crisis and has put into jeopardy the prospect of hundreds of tenants in the inner city obtaining new homes.

Cllr Emer Costello, a Member of both O'Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street Regeneration Boards, said that she was shocked at the news that the plans for the regeneration projects were now abandoned. The Regeneration Board has been working hard for the past two years on the plans which offered so much hope for the future of the areas. So many people had invested so much time and energy to bring the plans to fruition over the past two years. It was a terrible blow to everyone concerned, that all the work and all the promise for the future was now in tatters", she said.

Deputy Joe Costello said that Dublin City Council should convene a meeting immediately with all the stakeholders and the tenants to see what could be salvaged from the projects. Dublin City Council must ensure that a new plan is put in place so that the much-needed social housing and community facilities which were a major part of the project are still provided.

How one private developer was awarded so many PPP projects by the City Council and the Department of the Environment is a matter of serious concern. I will be raising these issues in the Dail tomorrow.

Cllr Emer Costello & Deputy Joe Costello said that they would continue to work to ensure that the existing tenants will be provided with their long-promised new homes.

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