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.