The Limerick Leader - Monday, 21 January, 2008

President unveils plans for Limerick estates

By David Hurley

THE much anticipated vision documents, for the regeneration of Moyross, Southill and Ballinacurra Weston, were officially launched by President Mary McAleese this morning.
As exclusively revealed by the Limerick Leader last week each of the vision documents contain a series of radical plans and proposals, which will be implemented during the lifetime of the multi-million euro regeneration programme.

The documents entitled, Our Community, Our Vision, Our Future, propose the construction of a new town centre for Moyross and new neighbourhood centres for Southill and Ballincurra Weston.

It is also proposed that over 2,500 houses will be demolished and that two new Garda stations be built along with two sports campuses.

"These documents set out clearly the physical infrastructure required but as we have always said it is the social regeneration aspect which represents the biggest challenge, therefore it gets most attention in the plan," said the chief executive of the Regeneration Agencies, Brendan Kenny, at a press conference this Monday morning.

One suggestion in the detailed documents is that a tracking system should be rolled out for young people. "This mechanism would identify those at risk of dropping out of mainstream services as well as identifying agencies and services required to support them," state the vision documents.

It is also suggested that some existing schools should be demolished and new ones built in their place.

Another radical proposal is that "certificates of eligibility" will be required from Gardaí and Limerick City Council before anyone is allocated a house and according to the vision documents: "Engagement in anti-social activity by any member of the household will seriously jeopardise their chances of getting a new home in the new regenerated areas."