Courtney McGrailStaff Reporter
Ballyfermot residents who have blocked efforts to begin work on a €12million social housing development are concerned about the lack of resources in the area, according to their parish priest.
The housing co-operative Nabco was given permission in 2008 to build the houses at a site owned by Dublin City Council in Ballyfermot’s Cherry Orchard Park, but the economic downturn stalled the project, and the neglected site became known for anti-social behaviour.
Local residents have worked since 2013 to reclaim the area as a community garden, including a small grotto to Mary which was blessed last year. “It’s been added to piece by piece over the last number of years,” Fr Michael Murtagh CSsR said, “and especially in memory of local people who’ve died tragically, whether by suicide, or accidentally, through drug overdose or whatever. There are little memorial spots for each of them.”
Explaining that the site is “of huge value to local people because of that”, Fr Murtagh acknowledged the need for more housing in Dublin but said that in Cherry Orchard, an area without shops or community facilities, “The locals are just concerned about the lack of resources in the area for the existing housing. There’s no plans to increase them if there’s going to be future housing.”