Cork Street Buildings Newsletter May 2010

Cork Street Buildings Newsletter April 2010

January 2010 Update

PARKING IN FRONT OF LIDL
We are in touch with Dublin City Council traffic department about parking in front of Lidl on Cork Street. This is becoming increasingly dangerous for cars emerging from Cameron Street onto Cork Street. They have committed to monitor the area for parking violations and issuing fines where appropriate. They are also going to consider putting a double yellow line outside to prevent any parking there. A decision will be made soon at DCC's roads department meeting.

LIDL
Posters and special offer advertisments have been taken down from the windows of the Store as per a complaint to Dublin City Council, Planning Dept. This was a clear breach of a condition of planning permission. There has been a marked imporvement in delivery associated noise, engines being left on, banging pallets etc.

ILLEGAL DUMPING
Illegal dumping continues. DCC have committed to sending litter wardens around in early February to try to get people onto the bin tag waiver scheme. Unfortunately this is going to be tricky in 2010, as the waiver no longer covers the entire cost of bin tags - they will now cost €3.00 each. Wardens will visit the area on Monday February 1st, and follow up again on Thursday February 4th.
As always, please contact Ger Toner of DCC about any illegal dumping - geraldine.toner@dublincity.ie or 086 3828331. Untagged bags are collected on Mondays, and bulky waste is collected by DCC when it is reported.

WASTE INFORMATION
Please see attached an A4 sheet with local waste information. If you are aware of people moving into the area, please print it out and pass this on to them. Let us know if there are any errors or omissions and we will update the information.

FORGED BIN TAGS
it has come to the attention of DCC that there are some bag labels being forged and sold door to door in bag areas. They have also been sold to some shops. They are being sold at a reduced price - but will not be accepted by DCC.

POWER WASHING OF PAVEMENTS
This was promised by DCC and we are following up - as it does not appear to have been carried out

ST TERESA'S GARDENS
There is still no clear information about what is planned for St Teresa's Gardens, but it appears that the complex is going to be de-tenanted and demolished, and that redevelopment will not occur for some time. We are trying to find out the timeframe for this.

VISTA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
The Vista Community Development Project which operated out of the Donore Avenue Community Centre has lost its funding from the Department of the Environment, but is appealing this decision.The people who benefit most from Vista are the elderly with over 150 older people living in the area engaging with the project on a weekly basis through social and educational activities. Support to the residents around the regeneration of Teresa's Gardens will also be lost. The other area they have been focused on is Suicide prevention which is seriously high in this area.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
There is a new Neighbourhood Watch Garda liaison, and we are trying to meet with him for an update.
As ever, if you would like to meet with the community Garda about anything, please visit Donore Avenue Community Centre on Wednesdays between 2.30pm and 3.30pm

KIDS ON ROOFS
If you are affected by kids on your roof - especially on the side of Eugene Street which backs on to St Teresa's Gardens - please let us know, as we are trying to set up a meeting with Stephen Shields of St Teresa's Gardens to see if there is any way to stop the kids getting up there in the first place. But if the problem has lessened, please let us know too!

COMMUNITY GROUP
If you want to get more involved in the community group - to suggest anything - or have any problems which we could help with - please get in touch.
We will be making a printed newsletter in early February and would be glad of suggestions for contents - and even help with distribution!
We will have our next public meeting in early March.

Kind Regards,

Community Group.

October Newsletter

Cork Street Buildings Newsletter October 2009

Neighbourhood meeting 1st September 2009 - Minutes

Neighbourhood meeting 1st September 2009
Minutes

1. Cameron House
2. Sewage problems
3. Waste
4. Iveagh Trust development
5. LIDL
6. Neighbourhood Watch
7. St Teresa's Gardens
8. Neighbourhood representation


1. Cameron House
Charlie Hammond came to speak about his experience as a community
activist, and the new community facility on the corner of Cork St and
Cameron St. He shared his experience from a lifetime of community
activism in the area, and spoke about some of the successes achieved
by organised community members in that time. As a member of residents’
associations, Charlie was involved in lobbying for the construction of
the community facilities on Marrowbone Lane (St. Catherine’s Centre)
and on Donore Avenue. He spoke about working with residents to
influence the council on many issues, including services for drug
users, planning and development, and providing jobs for the locals in
the area.

Charlie explained the plans for the community facility in Cameron
House. He explained that he was looking for volunteers to provide
services for the community, including homework clubs, activities for
the elderly, computer classes and a boxing club.
There is no money forthcoming from the Council at all for managing the
space, so Charlie is hoping to do fundraising, and to get a lot of
volunteer support. The building has a purpose-made space for a crèche,
and hopefully it will be possible to rent this space to a pre-school
group at a low rate to bring in some money for operational costs.

Charlie asked everybody in the community to consider getting involved,
either on the committee to run the facility, or else in volunteering.

After Charlie left, there was a brief discussion and a number of
people expressed an interest in getting involved; many said that they
were inspired by his presentation.

Charlie’s number is available, or he can be contacted via any member
of the committee.

2. Sewage problems
People on Donore Avenue are currently experiencing problems with their
sewage pipes backing up. This happens from time to time on most of the
terraces of the Cork St Buildings.

As the issue is usually caused by blockages in the drains between the
houses, it is not the legal responsibility of Dublin City Council, and
so residents have to pay to unblock the drains.

There was a discussion about how this problem should be tackled. The
drains are old and over-loaded, however, the problem is always
triggered by inappropriate waste. It is important that people do not
flush anything other than toilet paper and human waste: pipes are
often clogged with grease, nappies and other items.

If you can prove that the blockage is not on your terrace but is
external, then Dublin Council are responsible for removing the
blockage. Unfortunately, to do this you generally need to pay for a
survey with a camera, which isn’t worth the effort.

The residents of Donore Avenue got Claire Byrne (local councillor)
involved before, and she was helpful; but each time it happens you
have to start again.

Follow up: We agreed to keep one another informed about sewage issues
as they arise, and to share information about who to contact and how
to go about addressing the problems. The next community newsletter
will include a reminder to residents about items which can't go into
drains.

3. Waste
The problem of illegal dumping, while still an issue, has improved
significantly since this time last year - photos taken by residents on
different dates over the year prove this.

We attribute this largely to activities carried out by residents over
the past year. Many of these can be carried out by anybody affected by
illegal waste. These activities include:
* Phoning the council to report fly tipping (dumping bulky waste
from outside the neighbourhood)
* Reporting repeat offenders to the council litter wardens
* Making contact with landlords about tenants who repeatedly dump
(many houses don't have space to keep rubbish bags, and landlords
should be made aware of this limitation)

Other ways the residents group have tried to clean up the neighbourhood include:
* Regular distribution of newsletters informing residents about
bin collection days, recycling etc
* Painting houses
* Community clean-up day
* Distributing window boxes and flower barrels.

Follow up: We will continue to try to develop a cleaner neighbourhood
in the coming year. One thing that can improve this is better
monitoring and reporting of dumping. Residents should make an effort
to record every incident that they note, either by writing it down or
by sharing it with the community email list. This makes it easier to
make a case for a better service to the Council.

4. Moston/ Iveagh Trust development on Donore Avenue & Cork St
The closure of vehicle access to the North end of the terrace began
recently. Residents had expected that limited pedestrian access would
be maintained, but instead the entire alley has been blocked off.

There are also ongoing issues with the increase of parked cars in the
neighbourhood, given that construction workers on the site have to
park around the buildings. Residents from Donore Avenue have found
this especially problematic.

There was a brief discussion about parking once the new residence is
up and running. We explained that we don't expect many of the new
residents to need car parking space, but that we were taking the
Iveagh Trust at their word that this would be the case. The situation
will need to be monitored once Elveden House is opened.

Follow up: We will contact Moston and discuss pedestrian access to the
North end of Darley Terrace, as well as parking of construction staff.
We will invite a representative from the Iveagh Trust to a future
meeting to update the community on developments.

5. LIDL
Many residents have noticed a tendency of people to park outside the
Lidl, blocking the cycle path and also visibility for cars exiting
from Cameron St. This is really dangerous.

Residents on Maxwell St have experienced kids on their roofs, and
items being thrown into their yards, and suspect that the culprits may
be coming from the Lidl car park. They suggested that better lighting
in the car park might make a difference. Residents should be aware
that it's possible to ask to see the CCTV footage of the Lidl car
park: many residents have gone into the supermarket and done this, and
they can sometimes get evidence as to who is responsible for invading
their homes.

Follow up: We are liaising with Lidl on an ongoing basis, and will
raise issues relating to the car park.
We have spoken to the parking policy department in DCC, to check the
status of people parking in front of Lidl on the cycle path, blocking
the exit from Cameron Street.

Vehicles are parked illegally, and liable to be clamped, if:
* They are within 5 metres of a junction
* They are on a bus lane (between certain hours)
* They are on a cycle path (between certain hours).
We spoke to Sean Keane, and he agreed agreed that the cars parking
outside Lidl were probably parked illegally. He said he would send
somebody out straight away. I recommend phoning him every time you
notice problems there and people should learn fast enough: 222 22 61.
He also said that outside of office hours (or indeed inside) we can
call the clampers direct: 6022500 - Dublin Street Parking Services.


6. Neighbourhood Watch
We are still awaiting signs to put up around the streets to designate
the area a Neighbourhood Watch zone.
Residents are encouraged to put the stickers in their windows; if you
don't have a sticker, please contact the group email address.

There have been a number of break-ins in the area lately, so people
are advised to ensure that doors and windows are locked.

CCTV has recently been installed in St Teresa's Gardens, and the
Gardai are of the opinion that this has reduced criminal activity in
the area. The cameras have been in place for about a month now.

7. St Teresa's Gardens
A committee member is now sitting on the board of Vista (St Teresa's
Gardens redevelopment), as a representative of Cork St Buildings
residents.
She has made contact with the residents' committee of St Teresa's
Gardens, and has met with them, so that we can share information and
ideas. At present, the flats are being detenanted, and residents are
being rehoused in apartments; the residents committee is happy with
this arrangement. It remains to be seen when the flats will be fully
re-developed, but we are assured that the plans for redevelopment are
still completely relevant.

8. Neighbourhood representation
There has been a loose group of active residents leading activities
for the last year: this was approved at a meeting last September. We
did not hold a new election for a committee. Instead, we agreed that
those who were happy to continue would do so, and welcomed two new
people on board.

Clíona, from Darley's Terrace, has moved away recently, and so she
will be unable to continue her activism in the group, although she is
keen to remain involved. She was thanked sincerely by all the
residents for her relentless commitment and energy for the last two
years. She has been the momentum that kept things going on many
occasions.

The new committee will meet in early October and set out priorities
and goals for the coming year. Please get in touch if you would like
to help, or if there is anything of concern which you would like us to
help with.

Kind Regards,

Residents Group.

Cameron Hall - Meeting - Minutes

On Monday Aug 17, we attended a meeting in Cameron House, opposite the Lidl on Cameron St. The meeting was called by the residents' association for Cork St and Marylands: they ensured that the ground floor of Cameron House was designated entirely as a community facility, and they made specifications which the architects of the building incorporated in its final design.

It's an extensive space. There is a main room, the one bordered on two sides by windows facing on to Cameron St & Cork St. Then there are three smaller rooms (we think) and a children's play area. It's anticipated that one room could be kitted out with computers, and another as a kitchen.

The meeting was intended to bring the community together to discuss possible uses of the space. The council has asked the residents' committee for a business plan outlining how they will use the space.

Some ideas were as follows:

The core idea is to use the main room as a boxing club. Ronnie already runs a succesful boxing club in St Catherine's centre, but only for an hour and a half once a week, and there is no space to store the equipment, so in that time the equipment also has to be set up and broken down. The committee believe that a large number of young people would avail of this boxing club if it was available for a greater period of time.

The main way that the committee can see of raising revenue for the facility is to rent out a room say every morning for use as a private creche.

They would like to organise a homework club, and activities for elderly people.
• Possibly cookery classes for kids using the kitchen.
  
They are opposed to using the space mainly as a meeting venue: they are keen to provide services.
• One of the people in the meeting was a youth worker who runs a kids' club on Thomas St; he said he could run a club once a month on Saturday mornings.
  
• Fundraising for activities outside of the centre, such as trips for kids.
• The centre would need volunteers to help coordinate, run activities, keep things clean and fundraise.
  

Next steps:

• Charlie Hammond has a list of names of people who are interested in being on a committee to manage the centre; and other names of people willing to volunteer. You can add your name to either of these lists.
• The committee will hold a meeting with local kids to see how they would like to use the space.
  
• Anybody interested will be contacted, in order to start drawing up a business plan. The business plan may include other partners who might want to establish additional services in the centre.
  
• The Council will make a decision as to whether to hand over the space to the management of the residents, or to allow somebody else to take it over.
  

Charlie has agreed to come along to our meeting tomorrow to answer questions about the centre.

Cameron Hall

A Message from Cork Street & Maryland Residents Association

Cork Street has changed over the last number of years. We now have hundreds of new neighbours living in the new apartments along the street. We are easily the most densely populated section of the Liberties area but we still have no community building.
Many residents living in the area prior to the building of the new apartments will know that we fought long and hard to have a community facility included in the development of Cameron Hall, situated on the corner of Cameron Street and Cork Street. (Lidl is situated on the other corner, about 10 metres away.)
The Community building is now ready for occupation. Some five or six community organisations have now applied to Dublin City Council to take possession of the hall.
If we are to retain the right to occupy the building as agreed with Dublin City Council in 1999, then we must act quickly and decisively.
We need to elect a new committee which is representative of all people now living in the area, and put forward a viable plan for the use of the new facility.
A public meeting open to EVERYONE living along the new Cork Street including those in the Timber Yard apartments, and the residents of Emerald Square, Cork Street Buildings and Maryland will take place at 8pm on Monday 24th August 2009 in Cameron Hall.
This will be a great opportunity to view the above mentioned premises, get to know your neighbours new and old, and contribute your opinions ideas and suggestions. The Residents Association would wish that Cameron Hall will serve the whole community both young and old. We have some ideas, but with would welcome yours. Please come along.

Charlie Hammond
Chairperson
01-4547714

August Newsletter

Cork Street Buildings Newsletter August 2009

Liberties Documentary Screening

The Liberties - a recent documentary about 12 people living and working in the Liberties today - will be screened Monday and Tuesday the 20th and 21st of July at 8pm at the St Nicholas of Myra Parish Hall at the corner of Francis St and Carmen's Hall. Tickets will be a recession busting €3 at the door.
More info here:-

http://www.whereistheliberties.com/

Clips viewable here:-

http://www.areaman.tv/tailorman.html

http://www.areaman.tv/brenda.html

http://www.areaman.tv/bcrowe.html

Temporary closure of Darley’s Terrace from its junction with Donore Avenue

From the Dublin City Council website:-

Under Section 75 of the Roads Act 1993, the Council is considering authorising temporary closure of Darley’s Terrace from its junction with Donore Avenue from 10th August 2009 - 5th March 2010 (entire period). The temporary closure is to facilitate construction of apartments and associated works.

During the time of the closure, the following route diversion will apply:

• The south entrance to Darley’s Terrace is to be opened prior to the closure of the north entrance. Bollards are to be removed by the Dublin City Council Traffic Dept (DCCTP). Moston Builders shall contact the DCCTP to request removal of the bollards. Moston Builders shall be liable for all costs incurred by DCCTP in removing the bollards and reinstating the road. Similarly, Moston Builders shall request DCCTP to reinstate the bollards at the end of the road closure period. Moston Builders shall be liable for all costs incurred by DCCTP in reinstating the bollards and road.
• A temporary STOP sign is to be erected at the south junction by DCCTP. Moston Builders shall contact the DCCTP and request erection of this sign. A temporary statutory order shall be completed by the DCCTP for this sign. Moston Builders shall be liable for all costs incurred by DCCTP. Similarly, Moston Builders shall request DCCTP to remove the temporary STOP sign at the end of the road closure period. Moston Builders shall be liable for all costs incurred by DCCTP in removing the STOP sign and reinstating the footpath.
• The main site access is to be used for all deliveries to the site. The laneway on Darley’s Terrace is not to be used for any deliveries.
• Working hours are to be restricted to 08.00 to 18.00, Monday to Friday.
• Pedestrian access and local vehicular access is to be maintained at all times.

http://www.dublincity.ie/RoadsandTraffic/ScheduledDisruptions/Pages/ScheduledDisruptionsHome.aspx