An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick Appendices

Limerick 2030 An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick
Finally, the planning and design quality of the estates is also a recognised issue which continues to
have a negative impact on residents. The estates tend to be physically isolated from the City, the
overall design is of poor quality and the built environment is deteriorating.
As a consequence of the deprivation in these areas there is a culture of poverty, unemployment and
welfare dependency, which has lead to the areas having a poor external image and a reputation
for high crime. The major social, economic and physical issues apparent in each of the regeneration
areas have been detailed below:
Southill
Southill is an area in the south of Limerick City, consisting of four residential parks: O’Malley Park,
Keyes Park, Kincora Park, and Carew Park with a total number of 1,120 houses. In Southill houses were
built on the Radburn layout whereby houses face onto open greens and vehicle access is via back
courts. Subsequently back courts have become a security issue. The large scale of the estate with
uniform design, large poorly landscaped open space, high concentrations of children living in
relative poverty, degradation of the environment and anti-social behaviour are issues for this area.
Ballinacurra Weston
Ballinacurra Weston is also located in southern Limerick City and is made up of three estates: Clarina,
Crecora and Beechgrove. Collectively the three estates in Ballinacurra Weston amount to around
200 houses.
There is significant educational disadvantage within Ballinacurra Weston and this has been identified
as one of the leading contributors to social deprivation in the estate. It has been noted that
education provision is not the entire problem and that some parents, guardians and children are
afraid to approach school gates due to threats, hostilities and family feuding.
Poor health is also an issue across the estates in Ballinacurra Weston and issues include severe
substance addiction, malnourished children and families that need extensive support in order to
raise their children.
Moyross
Moyross is located in the north of Limerick City and was built between 1973 and 1987. The estate
comprises 1,160 houses and has a population of around 3,500 people. In 2006 64% of households in
Moyross were headed by lone parents. There are also a number of underlying social problems that
have made it difficult to attract new residents to live in the area, even the newly regenerated
properties.
With regard to physical planning, Moyross was designed with no mixed use and too much open
space that has been poorly landscaped. In particular, there were no retail outlets on the estate, no
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