Frustration at delays to Cork city housing regeneration project

At its November 2011meeting, Cork City Council what the Irish Examiner noted was “a revised €90m regeneration plan for one of Cork’s most disadvantaged areas”.

“Hundreds of millions of euro have been spent on regeneration projects in the north-west of the city since the 1990s,” noted the report by Eoin English.

“However, as the council work advanced, the Government ordered a review of the original masterplan, which was drawn up in 2001.

“Following months of detailed consultation, the revised plan for the area … has now been agreed.

“It sets out how and when over 600 new social, voluntary and private houses will be built over the coming years, replacing many of the existing houses in Knocknaheeny. Existing houses in Hollyhill will be improved and new roads will be built.”

Almost 15 years after that revised regeneration plan, and a full quarter-century after regeneration was first mooted, fewer than a third of the promised homes have been delivered, with some residents complaining that delays have left them stranded in substandard homes.

The City Northwest Quarter Regeneration programme has been billed as one of the largest housing-led regeneration programmes in the State. It involves the phased demolition of 434 homes and the building of 656 new homes.

To date, 192 new homes have been delivered, and 165 are described by the council as “on site”, with further phases advancing through planning and pre-planning. Investment already committed by the Department of Housing toward newly built homes in the area comes to almost €165m.

The department confirmed that “more than €96m has been allocated to date to projects that are either complete or on-site, while a further €49m has been approved in principle for projects that are making their way through the pre-construction process”.

Three-year delays

A timeline given to Sinn Féin TD shows that, for some projects, there have been three-year delays from May 2022 projections to actual completions, with 140 homes remaining in the pre-tender stage.

In Killala Gardens and Kilmore Rd in Knocknaheeny, residents say they have lost hope that regeneration will ever come. Their homes are planned to be in the final stages of the regeneration project, and they have been told they likely won’t be going anywhere for five years.

Several of the homes are shuttered, with the gardens around them extremely overgrown, and locals say the area is “infested” with rats.

One woman said her daughter’s car was written off after rats ate into the engine block and built a nest made out of discarded nappies and items of clothing.

Another resident, Veronica Moore, said she was unable to open her back windows in the recent hot weather because of a fear that rats would get into her home.

“There’s some dumping going on here, but you can’t blame the residents. I blame the council for not cleaning it up, and that’s drawing rats,” she said.

“The whole set-up is a joke. I have a bathroom upstairs, there’s two leaks and the dampness is terrible, there’s no insulation in the attic, it’s like an icebox in the winter, and I’m putting nearly €100 a week into my gas for heating.

“The council isn’t investing anything in these houses because they’re going to knock them, but we have to live here for five years or more.”

Across the road, Dennis Barry said his windows are being held in place by ropes, and “upstairs you can hear the rats scratching around in the attic”.

On Kilmore Rd, a young father who asked to remain anonymous, said two of his children have additional needs and their home is “completely unsuitable”.

“We’re here about seven years, and we were promised we’d be out in two years. We’re in for a transfer, but I’m not hopeful,” he said.

“There are problems with the windows, you can’t open them, and my lads have special needs, so if I open the door, they’re out the gap, and the traffic is deadly dangerous up here. We have no ventilation in the house, and the whole area is crawling with rats.

“We can’t wait another five years.”

Michelle Gould, a Sinn Féin city councillor for the north-west ward, said her party has repeatedly said the regeneration scheme should include the nearby homes on Baker’s Rd and Ascencion Heights, saying they are “run-down properties” in need of replacement.

She added that Sinn Féin has often been accused of running down Knocknaheeny and regeneration, but she said the repeated delays were “unforgiveable”.

“People feel so let down, you can’t have a vague promise of regeneration and people left living in squalor,” she said.

“What’s happening now is that so many people have been moved and so many houses are idle, there’s rat infestations, there’s rubbish, and it’s through no fault of the people that are left living up there.

“And when they do finally get onto someone from the council, they’re told ‘Ah but sure ye’re part of the regeneration’, but the more people that move out, the problems are only going to get worse for the people left behind.”

• This special report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.