Consultation - A Right Or A Gift?
Ballymun Refurbishment 1987-1996
Ballymun Regeneration Masterplan - 1997 to 2005
Download From Ballymun Community Coalition to Neighbourhood Council.pdf (888 KB) in PDF format
Ballymun Housing Task Force now (Ballymun Neighbourhood Council) was initiated by Ballymun Community Coalition (BCC), an organisation comprising community and tenant activists, all of whom were involved in consultation at different levels on with and on behalf of different sections of the Ballymun community.
When Ballymun Community Coalition established the Ballymun Housing Task Force in 1987, the principle of consultation and the primary importance of seeking local opinion was firmly embedded into its terms of reference:
- “ On the occasion of the Ballymun Estate’s 21st Anniversary, to draw up long and short-term plans for the balanced development of the area, using the widest strata of local opinion available”
The BCC in their wisdom realized that if the powers that be (Local Authority and Government) were to be persuaded of the merits of dealing seriously with the many issues facing the Ballymun community, in particular, run down housing, then the community itself would have to be seen to be speaking with one voice. That could only come about by creating a sense of ownership of Ballymun Housing Task Force proposals within the community and that in turn could only come about by canvassing and incorporating community opinion into the proposals.
In its time the Ballymun Community Coalition was very much a trail blazer in relation to developing best practice in community consultation. Using their good office, the BCC and its representatives on the Ballymun Housing Task Force harnessed the collective brainpower of the many Ballymun Community organisations and individuals to develop the 1988 proposals for the refurbishment of the Ballymun flats, integrated housing policy, community development, community care and youth encounter projects. The proposals were contained in a document entitled “A Programme Of Renewal For Ballymun – An Integrated Housing Policy” which was presented to the then Minister for the Environment, Mr. Padraig Flynn TD in July 1988. It should be noted that this document went through approximately thirteen amended versions before the BCC considered it to be the optimum that could be achieved and deliverable given the state of the economy at that time.
In 1996, three years after the refurbishment of the 282 flats in Balbutcher Lane and Joseph Plunkett Tower was completed, the Ballymun Housing Task Force met with the then Minister for the Environment, Mr. Brendan Howlin TD who announced that the state of the economy was now such that a full regeneration programme for Ballymun was possible. At that and subsequent meetings both the Ballymun Community Coalition and Ballymun Housing Task Force strongly advocated the meaningful consultation must take place between the company that would be set up to oversee the regeneration programme and the Ballymun community and its community representatives. And so began the era of Ballymun Regeneration Ltd.
At about the same time as Ballymun Regeneration Ltd preparing its Masterplan, the Ballymun Housing Task Force (BHTF) began restructuring itself for the tasks ahead. Part of that restructuring was to replace the Ballymun Community Coalition representatives on the BHTF with representatives from the newly emerging Neighbourhood Forums. A new name (Ballymun Neighbourhood Council) was also adopted for the BHTF.
This page was updated on 19th July, 2006