Council outline Liberties rejuvenation plan

By Patrick Gormley

In what can be seen as a result of the country’s struggling economy, the sight of more and more boarded-up properties in the Liberties area is becoming commonplace.

Attempting to find a solution for this problem, the Dublin City Council Development Plan 2011-2017 outlines the plans of the council for the development of the city for that 6-year plan period.

This plan outlines specific plans for the inner city Liberties area which aims to rejuvenate and revive the region. A Local Area Plan (LAP) specifically for the Liberties was adopted by the council in 2009 following extensive public consultation in the area.

The Liberties LAP is a regeneration strategy for 136 hectares of the South Central Dublin and the city’s largest LAP to date. The plan has been written to guide development and regeneration over the next decade.

The main aims of the plan is to provide an over-arching strategy for the regeneration of the area, including

• increased levels of social and affordable housing,
• the provision of new community facilities such as new parks, libraries, sport and play areas for the residents, and
• the redevelopment of existing dilapidated areas.

Dr. Sean Daly, Chairman of the St. Teresa’s Gardens Regeneration Board is keen to see the redevelopment of the area.

“Some St. Teresa’s Gardens residents are currently in the process of being moved out in order to get plans underway,” he said, “and now quite a few of the units are empty. These vacant apartments have been boarded-up to prevent occupation or antisocial behaviour”.

Evelyn Hanlon, Dublin City Council’s Project Manager for the Liberties Regeneration Project, says the plan “reflects the concerns and aspirations of the local community and their elected representatives”.

For more information on this visit the website : http://www.dublincity.ie/PLANNING/DUBLINCITYDEVELOPMENTPLAN/Pages/CityDevelopmentPlan.aspx