Save Charlemont Street

by Save Charlemont Street Sat Feb 19, 2011 22:51

The below quotes are statements taking from a report of research carried out with tenants living in Dublin Corporation Housing in the Charlemont Street area.

The report was conducted by the then, Charlemont Community Association in November 1998.

It is inconceivable to believe that over 13 years later these problems still exist today.

“Damp should not be a problem in the 1990’s. Why should my kids have asthma because of the Corporations neglect? I would be ok living here otherwise.”

“All ground floor tenants are treated like second class citizens by other tenants. We have to put up with constant annoyance from the kids. We need proper gates around our flats to stop this.”

“As a ground floor tenant, I lack the basic things to keep myself clean. I have to use Rathmines public baths. The Corporation as my land landlord is a slum landlord, if the corporation do not respond to our needs, they will turn the complex into a ghetto.”

“As a young person with a ground floor flat I suppose I should be happy to have it but the only message I get around here is that I have to have a kid to get a better place.”

“One room only, a garden I have no equipment to maintain, no bath or shower, and no immersion until I hassled a TD…not human…If I had kids maybe there would not be this hassle.”

“I pay my rent and have an agreement, if something goes wrong that is not my fault and is to be fixed by my landlord under the agreement, why am I made to feel so bad when I look for something to be fixed!”

“Waiting 2 years for a hole to be filled in the bedroom ceiling which is getting bigger”

“Sometimes waiting for repairs to be done undoes something else. Repairs should be done when needed and it is not fair to leave us waiting and then having to pay for stuff to be done ourselves.”

“Spent a fortune on phone calls to the Corporation to get them out to do anything.”

“I would like to ask the Caretakers to clean the stairs once a week and mop up properly so not to let the water stagnate.”

“The stairs are always filthy with an almost constant smell of urine”

“People do not have equipment to wash down their own balconies and are not able to brush down the water. Caretakers don’t do it often enough and the job done badly.”

“Rats…more needs to be done about them.”

“Some form of vandal proof playground for our kids. It’s been 16 years since we’ve had one.”
　
　
Dublin City Council have stated that,“Tenants who are over 6 weeks in Rent Arrears will no longer have routine repairs carried out to their home”

This is a travesty of justice for the tenants who are forced to live in squalor while at the same time expected to pay rent for living in homes unfit for animals never mind human beings.

Dublin City Council, as our landlords, have a moral obligation to look after its tenants but instead they have created a hostile environment for which the tenants of Charlemont Street have to live in.

Below is a list of maintenance and repairs that Dublin City Council have failed to address and have left the tenants of Charlemont Street feeling vulnerable and neglected.

Taken from the Dublin City Council’s website.
Maintenance and repairs to your Council home.

If you are a tenant in a Dublin City Council home on which you pay rent, the following repairs will be carried out by us.

Structural repairs
Roof repairs, repairs to external walls and doors
Electrical faults Window repairs (excluding glass)
Flooding
Any other repairs due to the normal wear and tear

In May 1998 discussions began with Charlemont Street Committee to survey the area in regard to the opinions of residents on area regeneration: When asked if they had a problem with damp in their houses 52% of residents indicated that they had.

13 years later and these problems still exist, many homes remain riddled with dampness.

It is the duty of Dublin City Council to carry out this short list of maintenance and repairs on all council homes. So far they have neglected to do so. Many homes still remain in a state of degradation.　

Regeneration

As it stands there are three objections to the granting of planning permission for Charlemont Street. These objections were made by:

An Taisce
The Rathmines initiative
RPS Planning and Environment on behalf of the Clancourt Group

The residents of Charlemont Street are now being told that it could take anywhere from less than six months to over 12 months just for An Bord Pleanala to consider these appeals and make their decision. 　　　

The development cannot start until An Bord Pleanala make their decision and if and when they do, it could take anywhere from up to 5 years for the social housing section to be completed and 10 years for the completion of the hole development by property developer, Sean Reilly.

This sounds all to familiar. It wasn’t too long ago that the tenants of Charlemont Street were promised by Dublin City Council and property developer McNamara, that they would be living in brand new homes that would facilitate their fundamental everyday basic needs.

The tenants were left waiting and wanting through the turmoil of failed negotiations with Dublin City Council that left a devastating impact on the lives of the tenants.

Are we going to see a repeat of this façade that has led the tenants of Charlemont Street down a path of destitution ?

We need to see an end to the social injustice that has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the tenants. We will continue to fight on as we strive for our civil-rights to be recognised and until Dublin City Council and those who collaborate with them are held accountable for their negligence towards the people of Charlemont Street, Tom Kelly Flats.