THE MANAGEMENT strategy for a proposed €10 million redevelopment of a Travellers’ accommodation site in Ballyfermot, west Dublin, is due to go before the Department of the Environment next month.
Plans for the redevelopment of the Labre Park halting site have already been approved by the department but technical issues still exist concerning the management of the site, which has been subject to serious anti-social behaviour in the last two years.
The process of redevelopment at Labre Park is part of a national programme to provide better accommodation for Travellers. The development strategy for the site was ratified by inter-agency committee made up of statutory bodies, last June.
The proposed development was designed seven years ago and consists of 11 houses, 11 halting bays and a new community centre, but the council is calling for co-operation from all the residents and an end to anti-social behaviour before work begins on the site.
Since 2008, several council employees have been attacked in the site and in one particular incident, a shotgun was brandished at both council staff and the Garda who were assisting in the seizure of a stolen vehicle.
Three CCTV systems installed by the council have been destroyed in the last two years and a surveillance system put in by the Garda, at a cost of €80,000, has also been vandalised.
An onsite community centre, six houses and the council’s caretaker’s office have all been burned out and damaged to a point where they will be demolished for safety reasons in the coming weeks.
The management strategy will now go before the department in September. It is expected to accept the plan and begin redevelopment before the end of the year.