4,000 fewer people in regeneration areas since project began
However, chief executive Brendan Kenny said many families had abandoned the homes in Southill, Moyross, St Mary’s Park and Ballinacurra Weston before the masterplan was launched in October 2008.
As work commences on the first houses to be constructed as part of the regeneration project, workers are knocking derelict and abandoned houses in the four estates.
Up to 700 houses have been levelled over the past two years and Mr Kenny believes another 200 abandoned buildings will have to be demolished.
Much of the allocations given to Limerick City Council in 2009 and 2010 have gone towards the demolition project.
Mr Kenny said: “The problem with some derelict and abandoned houses is that they are part of terraced blocks and this poses obvious difficulties in trying to access these properties for demolition.”
He said an estimated 300 families have now moved out of the four regeneration areas and have been housed, with money specially given to Limerick City Council, Limerick County Council and Clare County Council to facilitate families who wanted to move out.
Mr Kenny said most of the 300 families who have moved have opted to be re-housed within the city in areas such as Garryowen, Ballynanty, Kileely and Janesboro which are old, established local authority residential areas.
He said: “Many people had moved out before the regeneration programme commenced. When we moved into the four areas, there were about 600 empty houses.”
Mr Kenny said Limerick City Council had re-housed about 50 families in private estates in the suburbs with funding from the regeneration programme.
“As we have now commenced our building programme we expect that we will spend up to €10 million this year on new housing projects; the new Moyross project which has commenced will cost in the region of €5m.”
He said Limerick City Council will get more than €20m to continue with the demolition programme.
Mr Kenny said they intend to acquire strategic sites adjacent to Southill and in St Mary’s Park, which, he said, would be important for the proper redevelopment of those areas.
Mr Kenny said all the families who had requested to be moved from the regeneration estates had been vetted by various agencies and they had no reports of any of these families causing problems in the areas where they had been re-housed.
