This article is from page 37 of the 2007-04-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
THE Drumbiggle Residents Associ- ation is to meet next week to discuss an ongoing dispute with Ennis Town Council.
Last month the group opted to with- draw from participating in the RAP- ID funding scheme. The group cited a number of issues regarding housing policies, illegal dumping, unfinished road surfacing and anti-social behav- ior among the reasons why.
According to Ferdie O’Donoghue, Chairman of the Drumbiggle Resi- dents Association (DRA), the group want further dialogue with the coun- ote
“They haven’t come to us yet. We are not budging until they come to us. We are going to have a meeting next week to discuss the matter. This has been going back for years. All of these things should have been sorted out years ago.”
The DRA represents eight areas in the town Clancy Park, Waterpark View, Waterpark Heights, Waterpark Court, Radharc na hInse, Ard Carrig, Stone Court and McHugh Villas.
Mr O’Donoghue added “People might think that we are against RAP- ID, but we are not. Our fight is with the council they should do what they are supposed to do. They say they are going to start the showgrounds road now and that is going to take six months. It’s up to them to contact us.
We are waiting to talk to them. It’s up to them to make the move.”
Ennis Town Council and RAPID delegates have urged the DRA to re- engage with the process.
Ennis RAPID area comprises six residential areas. The areas include Drumbiggle, Dalcassian/Turnpike, Old Military Barracks, Hermitage, Clancy Park and Cloughleigh. RAP- ID Projects rely on an inter-agency (HSE Midwest, Ennis Town Council, Clare VEC, Dept of Social & Family Affairs, FAS, etc) and are based on a strong partnership with the commu- nity and voluntary sector.
The programme aims to ensure priority attention is given to tackling the spatial concentration of poverty and social exclusion within the 45 designated areas through targeting state resources
Under the scheme, communities in Ennis have benefited through the provision of amenity projects. Im- provement works carried out include landscaping, improvement of open Spaces, white lighting and _ traffic calming measures.