Regeneration housing project to commence

AFTER a series of setbacks, construction of new houses in the Limerick Regeneration plan finally commenced yesterday when contractors moved into Cliona Park, Moyross.

The first development will consist of 33 units, including apartments and houses and is being built at a total cost of €5 million.

More than 70 workers will be employed during the construction.

The regeneration programme has fallen two years behind schedule.

Regeneration chief executive, Brendan Kenny said it was a relief that the construction has started.

“We have been pushing and pushing for this for the past year,” he said. “We had hoped that this scheme would have been on site last February, but we have had difficulties.

“Things have been slow, the first builder got into difficulty. But this is milestone for the regeneration. We are two years behind, however if you take into account what has happened in the country and to world in that two years, things are beginning to move now.”

When the Regeneration plan was launched in October 2008, it envisaged a spend of €3 billion in the development of 4,790 new houses in Moyross, St Mary’s Park, Ballinacurra Weston and Southill.

It was envisaged that the state would contribute €1.6bn with the remaining €1.4bn coming from private developers.

However to date, due to the economic collapse, the only work in the four regeneration estates has been in the demolition of more than 700 derelict and burned out houses.

The Regeneration Agency has been helping a wide variety of community and sporting groups .

Most of the houses which have been demolished were in Moyross and Southill.

Mr Kenny said: “Today is a landmark day, although we are two years behind.

“It is very important that people can now see houses being built as a certain amount of disbelief was creeping in that the houses would be built at all and people were getting impatient.

“The 33 units which are now being constructed will consist of 20 apartments for elderly people and 13 houses. The builders Clancy Construction from Thurles tell us that the development should be completed in about 15 months.”

Mr Kenny said the original plan has been altered as hundreds of families have moved out of the estates.