Re: Re: well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?
@Tuborg wrote:
Looks like they’re very much following the ballymun route here, focusing quite a bit on regeneration. Everyone knows that Moyross was a planning disaster, like so many 1970s council estates and the demolition of derelict and substandard housing is welcome, however more modern homes arent going to solve all the areas problems on their own.
Fitzgerald Report (Southill Housing Estate)
The housing situation 1960
Built in the late 1960’]chronic housing waiting list [/B]back then. The 3-bedroomed houses were very much appreciated by the new residents and people were quite happy to live in southill in the beginning. They replaced old housing lanes which even up into the 1950’s were without running water and even sanitation required slopping out by empting buckets on to a cart!
The Design of the Estate
I suppose the fact that the city possessed a cement factory, had a bearing on the overall architectural material design of Southill i.e. concrete! :rolleyes: Yes 1,000 concrete pebble-dashed houses, complete with concrete pebble-dashed sheds with concrete flat roofs, concrete pebble-dashed walls and pillars, concrete steps from the gate to the front door, concrete footpaths and concrete roads. Thankfully the roofs have a reddish tile-slate to break the monotony. Landscaping consisted of open greens (monoculture plant) bordered by concrete kerbings. Close attention was paid to detail i.e. every house looked identical.
Losing it’s Reputation
When problems appeared in the late 1970’s especially with a small group of youngsters under the legal age of 16, they appeared to enjoy impunity from the law. After becoming chronic school truants, they were well known for their joy-riding escapades, their breaking-in skills etc, etc. Soon Southill’s reputation was starting to get tarnished. Coupled with rising unemployment, resulting in emigration, which in turn lead to high tenant turnover levels, social problems were allowed to fester thus eventually making the Southill estate a last preference of choice for new tenants to live. The double murder of the two McCarthey brothers in 1982 by one of Southill’s notorious street fighters was a milestone that opened up a pandora box in which Southill would pay a high price in the form of social rejection by the rest of the city.
The State failed to nip the problems in the bud
Simply the Limerick Corporation (Dept. of Environment) as landlords could not or would not manage the estate. Rent collection, bin collection or water supply yes but be responsible Landlords no! Simply pass the buck to the Guards (Dept. of Justice) to run estate, who in turn passed it onto the social services (Dept. of Health) where the successors of Archbishop McQuaid made sure that the Health Board didn’t get too involved in fear of family planning issues. In my opinion school truancy is the single biggest factor for a disadvantage life again the Dept. of Education never followed this up.
Personal views to the Fitzgerald Report
(1) I personally would be against a regeneration programme for Southill if it meant only rebuilding 1,000 social housing units. I would rather prefer to see social inclusion implemented by building only 500 social housing dwellings and 500 private semi-detached dwellings in ten different schemes on the original Southill site. The Limerick County Council would of course have the responsibility of building the other 500 social housing dwellings preferably 250 in Raheen and 250 in Castletroy (ideally near the industrial estates)
(2) The magnitude of the social problems of the estate today are many times worse than they were 30 years ago. That the vast majority of the decent citizens of Southill are getting a second chance, there must be accountability by the Limerick City and County Councils civil servants as Landlords.
Still Southill has a lot going for it.
The infrastructure around Southill is quite good unfortunately the loss of the Krups factory was quite a blow locally (1,000 jobs) as well as the downward trend of the Galvone industrial estate. Roxborough Shopping Centre has great potential.
Attached image #1
(1) Link road to Rossbrien Interchange (N7,N18,N20)
(2) Former Krups factory (new Quality Hotel, retail outlets etc)
(3) Roxborough Shopping Centre
(4) Roxborough Garda Station
(5) Primary School
(6) Galvone Industrial Estate
(7) Church and Health services
(8) Secondary Comprehensive School
(9) Pike Rovers Football club
(10) Municipal Golf club
Attached images #2 and #3 ( courtesy Limerick Blogger) show the extreme cases of self-destruction.
