In May, Dublin City Council announced that the Public-Private Partnership schemes (PPP), established and charged with the regeneration of St. Michael’s Estate, O’Devaney Gardens, Dominick St, Infirmary Road and Sean McDermott St, had collapsed. MATT WAINE spoke to JOHN BISSETT
of the St. Michael’s Estate Regeneration Team about the recent collapse of the project and what lies in store for the community.
What’s the background to the current crisis?
In 2003 residents, community organisations and everyone connected with St. Michael’s, lodged a plan called Moving Ahead with An Bord Planala which was submitted to the Department of Environment. The Department came back in August saying the only route possible was through Public-Private Partnership. This wasn’t the road we wanted to go down, but we were left with no alternative. At each stage of the process, we had to fight the council on every issue, from community representation on the various committees, to the number of social and affordable housing units that would be built.
What was the community’s attitude to a private developer being given the contract?
From the beginning we believed it was the state’s responsibility to provide housing for those who can’t afford private housing. But we were told PPP was the only option for redevelopment. Our attitude was, we already have a plan, why do we need PPP? Why doesn’t the state go ahead and build the project itself?
Using PPP meant that the project was totally financed by the future sale of private housing units and apartments and was therefore reliant on property prices. When the property market slowed down, the whole project was jeopardized. There is a significant problem with the mechanism and policy and the bitter fruits are now to be seen in this mess. We were told competition is good, but McNamara basically had a monopoly on all five projects. He has been able to hold these communities and the City Council to ransom because the Council and the Department of Environment favour the PPP model.
Do you think McNamara held off signing a contract because he wanted to see what would happen in the housing market?
Definitely. The builders were supposed to be on site last January. Come May, they had only been here once and that was just to check the soil contamination – a time buying exercise. But he hasn’t walked away from the other government projects he’s involved in, for example, Thornton Hall, the site for the new prison and the new concert hall in University of Limerick. Why? Because his profit is guaranteed from the state. This is what happens when you leave things to the vagaries of the market, it’s the great gamble and the City Council have learned that the hard way.
Phase One of the project between 2001 and 2003 was the construction of new houses and apartments for pensioners. That was built, completed and occupied within 2 years to a high standard and that was directly built by the state, prior to the use of PPP.
How do people feel now? What should happen next?
I have to be honest - people are devastated. When all this began we were promised it would be completed by mid-2009. Five years on, not a brick has been laid, nothing has been done.
When the project collapsed, we told the Council to go immediately to the second builder and see if something could be worked out. We thought this might be the quickest way to get things moving given that a plan is already in place. That was five weeks ago and nothing has happened. They have walked themselves into a legal minefield and they don’t seem to care about the futures and dreams of our communities. If all that fails, the state must step in and directly finance the project.
The Socialist Party says:
The Socialist Party fully supports the communities affected by the collapse of the regeneration schemes. We believe the right wing politicians, Dublin City Council and the government are to blame for this scandal. A community campaign, which is able to mobilise and unite the thousands of people in these communities should target the establishment parties and the government. Send them a clear message that they are being held responsible for the regeneration crisis, that the failed PPP plans should be abandoned and that public funding must be provided to secure a decent future for those who have had their hopes and dreams shattered.
