New rules threaten revamp of Limerick

PRE-PLANNING works on the Limerick regeneration scheme are under threat.

Private architectural firms were engaged to assist in drawing up master plans for the regeneration. But new government guidelines on the hiring of architects to undertake schemes on public housing projects may put the process at risk, a top architect has warned.

New instructions issued to local authorities last month by the Department of the Environment state county and city councils should now utilise in-house professional services to provide planning, design and management services.

Councils have also been told, where possible, to enter shared service agreements with other local authorities and engage with the National Building Agency to provide planning, design and management services for projects.

Hugh Elliott, managing director of eml architects in Limerick said the new instructions from the Department of the Environment were a direct assault on the private sector where 50% of all staff in architectural offices have been let go and where the other 50% are on short time or reduced pay.

In a letter to public representatives in Limerick, Mr Elliott stated: “The position of Limerick Regeneration work is even more serious. All of the private design consultants who successfully bid and completed these master plans were motivated by more than just commercial desire.

“The achievement of these master plans involved all teams in extensive research, and the building of personal relationships with the people who live in these areas and the regeneration agencies themselves. The process has continued since February 2008. None of this can be achieved unless it is underpinned with a strong social conscience, and a genuine concern for the type of society our nation aspires to.”

Mr Elliott said the maximum number of people employed in the architectural section of the National Building Agency is 22.

He added: “To protect these well-sheltered jobs, the Department of the Environment is putting 10 times this number under threat of joining the dole queue – let’s start to see the bigger picture from now on. If the NBA want the work, let them bid for it like the rest of us.”