BUILDING IS finally set to begin on one of the Republic’s largest regeneration programmes after contracts for a €5.5 million development in Limerick’s Moyross housing estate were signed yesterday.
The Cliona Park project will involve the development of a mix of 33 units, comprising 13 houses and a courtyard development for the elderly of 20 one and two-bedroom apartments.
Work on the Cliona Park development is expected to start early next month, with a completion date set for November 2012.
Chief executive of Limerick Regeneration Agencies Brendan Kenny welcomed the signing of the contracts as a very significant milestone in the project.
He said the signing of the contract with Clancy Construction was a pivotal moment for the regeneration areas. “We have had our stumbling blocks and delays but in the fullness of time the signing of these contracts today will be seen as a key moment for Limerick regeneration.”
Planning issues and a problem with an earlier construction company resulted in delays to the project, which was originally expected to start last February.
Overall the regeneration project is about two years behind schedule.
Some 700 houses have been demolished in Limerick since the process began 3½ years ago, with 200 more houses due to be demolished before the end of the year. A total of 900 families have been relocated since regeneration first got under way, and the Cliona Park development is the first of 26 housing projects which will take place over the next four years at a cost of €337 million.
Former Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald, who compiled a hard-hitting report which led to the regeneration project in Limerick, said there was no alternative plan other than regeneration.
“There is no going back, there is no plan B. There is no alternative, this has to be done,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald admitted regeneration plans were up to two years behind schedule, but insisted the project was a much more viable proposition at this stage.
“It is more doable now in a whole lot of ways than it was three or four years ago. Costs have become much more manageable; expectations are probably more realistic everywhere.”
According to Mr Kenny the process of selecting tenants for the new houses would begin immediately.
Deirdre Bond, chairwoman of the local residents’ forum, said the contract signing would give great hope to the citizens of Moyross and other regeneration areas that better days were ahead.
“This will finally dispel any doubts that Limerick regeneration is taking shape. While a lot of investment has gone into social regeneration over the past few years, there has been quite a degree of frustration that little has happened on rebuilding.”