O'Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street Updates

It is now almost two and a half years since the proposed Public Private Partnership Regeneration Projects in O’Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street to be developed by McNamara collapsed (May 2008). Since then, Dublin City Council has been working to develop new plans to bring about much needed regeneration for the area. The City Council hopes to submit the final Environmental Impact Statements along with planning applications for the first phase to An Bord Pleanala for both projects in November.

Four blocks in O’Devaney Gardens were demolished in 2008. At its September meeting, Dublin City Council commenced the process for the demolition of a further five blocks in O’Devaney Gardens which will pave the way for the first phase of the new development to be carried out.
This will include the construction of 91 residential units (social and private housing) as well as the provision of a public park. The next stage of the development will be a mixed use commercial zone including a neighbourhood supermarket, smaller shop units, office space and community facilities and 29 residential units. The final phase of the project is for the development of 240 private residential units on the southern side of the site.

The overall height of the development will range from two to six storeys. It is anticipated that the first planning permission will be granted by late 2011, and that construction should start in 2012 with completion of the first residential units by 2013. I am a member of the O’Devaney Gardens Regeneration Board.

Joe and I are committed as both local residents and local public represenatives to continue to work with residents from the surrounding community and the residents of O’Devaney Gardens to ensure the delivery of a quality regeneration project which will provide the social and physical regeneration long promised and much overdue to the area.

The proposal for Dominck Street is to replace the current flat complex with a high quality mixed use development, to include approximately 180 residential units and community facilities, along with a variety of commercial uses. The height of the development will range from 3-6 storeys in total (or 2-5 storeys over ground level non residential/commercial use). The site will be developed in two phases. The first phase will be the development of 66 residential units including a community/neighbourhood centre on the cleared site on the eastern side of the street. The second phase will develop the remainder of the site with a mixture of private and social housing and commercial / non residential units.

It is hoped that the first phase will commence in 2011/12 and will be completed by 2014. The combined planning and construction timescale for the second phase is estimated to be from 2014 to 2019.

In the meantime we are working with Dublin City Council to resolve the issue of the continued employment of the Regeneration Workers on these projects to ensure that the valuable work of social regeneration can continue alongsie the physical regeneration.