4-acre site for Women’s Refuge
WEXFORD County Council has provided an early Christmas gift to Wexford Women’s Refuge in the form of a four-acre site at Maudlintown for the construction of a new larger premises to cater for the increasing number of women and children in needs of its services.
The decision to earmark the local authority site beside St Mary’s GAA Club was announced by director of services Tony Larkin, who said the council will be supporting the refuge’s application for Government funding.
A preliminary plan has been drawn up by county architect Shay Howell and it is estimated that the new refuge will cost approximately €2m to build.
The refuge based in Distillery Road launched a public campaign for a new building after being forced last year to turn away 245 women and 353 children because it didn’t have enough accommodation for them.
THE CAMPAIGN for a new Women’s Refuge in Wexford has been boosted by a Wexford County Council decision to provide a four-acre site in Maudlintown for the badly-needed facility which is expected to cost in the region of €2 million to construct.
However, the board of the refuge which caters for women and children experiencing domestic violence, is cautioning against premature celebrations as it still has to apply for Government funding under the Capital Acquisitions Scheme (CAS2) and also planning permission.
The provision of the local authority site beside St. Mary’s GAA Club in Maudlintown, was revealed at a Wexford District Council meeting by Director of Services Tony Larkin who said the Council will be supportintg the CAS application. The land had previously been earmarked for social housing.
Senior Executive County Architect Shay Howell has drawn up indicative plans for the new and larger refuge which will incorporte 12 units of 11,000 square ft over two stories including enhanced work facilities for staff.
The new building will replace the existing refuge in Distillery Road which is one of the smallest in Ireland with just four bedrooms for the entire county and is unable to cope with an increased demand for its services. The refuge also provides emergency accommodation for homeless women and outreach services.
Last year, staff had to turn away 245 women and 353 children because the refuge didn’t have accommodation for them. ‘The statistics speak for themselves’, said refuge manager Pauline Ennis.
Cllr. George Lawlor who has pported the campaign for a new premises, revealed that he had a number of meetings about the project with the County Manager Tom Enright and said local
authority management and staff had been ‘tremendously supportive’. He added that he believed the new refuge offering three times the capacity of the existing premises, would be a tremendous addition to the area.
‘I believe that this is an ideal location for a new women’s refuge based in the heart of a community that is close to all the amenities that the refuge uses.’
Cllr. Lawlor said he had also spoken to some representatives of St. Mary’s GAA Club who welcomed the project.
Joe Ryan, Chairman of the board of the refuge advised that any suggestions about the project being ready to imminently proceed could confuse the people of County Wexford who have been ‘extraordinarily supportive of the refuge in the past and continue to support us and our staff in our valuable work’.
‘However, we are very pleased that the project is making progress. It will all be worth it in the end,’ he said as he thanked Wexford County Council and Cllr. Lawlor for their ongoing commitment to the project.
Outlining the current status of the proposed development, Mr. Ryan said the board had several meetings with Wexford County Council over the past eight months in relation to constructing a new refuge at Maudlintown.
‘These meetings have been productive and progress is being made towards identifying a site, a design and a funding stream. However, no application has been lodged for planning permission.
‘At present, we are preparing an application to the Department of Housing under the CAS2 funding strand in conjunction with Wexford County Council. The application is currently being considered by the service funder Túsla. On receipt of a positive support from Túsla, the board will submit that application to the Department of Housing and will then announce our intention to submit a planning application.’
‘In the event of a positive outcome to this application, there will follow an intense fundraising campaign and a tendering process prior to construction commencing’, said the chairman.