Group criticise halting of regeneration project
The decision to abandon a regeneration project on one of Dublin’s most deprived housing estates has been strongly criticised by an independent social and economic research group.
St Michael’s Estate, Inchicore is undergoing an urban development process under the controversial Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.
Residents have been running an ongoing campaign to stop the 11-acre estate being developed by private contractors and persuade Dublin City Council to adopt a community regeneration plan originally drawn up jointly between residents and the local authority.
The €60m development “masterplan” was unveiled in June 2001 and included the complete demolition of the existing flats and the construction of 320 new units including affordable social housing.
City manager John Fitzgerald described the plan as a “wonderful example of the best in architectural design, while meeting the needs of a community who have been marginalised for far too long”.
However, the proposals were later rejected by the Department of the Environment on the grounds it was not economically viable. The council was directed to pursue the PPP initiative instead.
The St Michael’s Estate Campaign Group has since fought to get the original plan back on track.
Nexus Research, which evaluates community development programmes, launched a report strongly criticising the Government’s decision.
Brian Dillon, author of the 27-page document, concludes that when applied to disadvantaged areas, PPPs generate potential dangers of increased alienation and that local authority assets are likely to be permanently lost in the process.
Mr Dillon said: “A very serious commitment was made by a large public authority to a community in a well-established Dublin area that became completely unravelled.
“What is happening is that a very, very valuable piece of state asset is going out of the state sector and into the private sector forever and this affects the whole community sector in Ireland.”
The St Michael’s campaign is viewed by many as representative of similar situations throughout Ireland.
Ursula Barry, an economist and Professor of Womens Studies at UCD said the campaign addressed core local government policy which was failing to meet the needs of local people.
“We are in the midst of an acute housing crisis,” she said. “There are spiralling numbers on the housing list but at the same time a freezing of public housing provision.
“St Michael’s represents a complete insult to a community which has campaigned and fought so hard for a better housing programme. It represents an absolute breach of trust in a community which has battled against social exclusion and put time and energy into something they believed the local authority was behind.”
Mr Dillon claimed the report proved that the argument of cost did not stand up. He also criticised the PPP model as being a vehicle for economic rather than community development.
A spokesman from Dublin City Council insisted they were fully committed to honouring partnerships with communities.
“The residents of St Michael’s are not going to be left out on a limb over this,” he said. “The PPP is still in its very early stages but they will be kept up to date and be very much a part of the process.”
The campaign group now plans to distribute the Nexus report to councillors and TDs. They are in the process of gathering 5,000 signatures on a petition to submit to the new local councillors elected on June 11.
