CPO Ship Street homes and rebuild street

Dear Sir,

WHEN you experience it for the first time, Ship Street today is like a flashback to the poor tenement conditions of the “Dickensian Days”.

The profound feeling experienced as you stand there is one of disbelief and questioning. How on earth is it that so many houses, approx 40 in total; the majority of which were slowly allowed to slip into such dereliction.

As for the few residents that are now left living there, it is a great credit to them in keeping their homes so well against all of the odds.

Plagued with flooding over the years from the” River Boyne” the Authorities seem to have just forgotten it’s people and part of the Town’s 19th Century built heritage.

Out of wanton neglect by the Local Authorities over the many decades of it’s existence the street is now on it’s last legs.

Similar to some of “Dickens” characters in his novel “Bleak House”

the” Local Authority” are akin to the notorious” Mr. Tulkinghorn and Mr. Smallweed in their attempt to cash in on the situation on Ship Street no matter what. Like a Vampire sucking the last bit of blood out of a weakened and virtually dead victim.

Instead of using the” Derelict Sites Acts” 1991, now 27 years on the Statute Books; to buy up the land over the years and reclaim it for Council Housing.

They have decided to squeeze every last penny out of it’s few remaining and brave residents through the Pay Parking Charges.

The Officials and the Elected Members of Louth Co. Council have shown no imagination or no desire in doing anything about the Street in the last number of decades.

Whilst declaring that they own none of the “Ship Street” Properties they are quick to collect parking fees from the meters placed in the street.

Along with serving some of the residents with fines for parking outside their very own doors.

The state of the footpaths and the road are a total dereliction of duty and” Mala Fides” by the local Authority leaving them wide open for possible claims in respect of accidents arising from the amount of debris left lying on the street at present.

Whilst a lot of the debris has fallen from the roofs of private houses, when it hits the street the responsibility then becomes that of the Local Authority who are demonstrating jurisdiction over the street with the Parking Meters

Things have deteriorated so badly it would seem at this stage the only answer to Ship St. and many of the other properties on the Marsh Rd. is a large regeneration programme for the whole area

With so many Stakeholders involved from Residential, Commercial, Industrial and the River and the Docklands Authorities it would be a very complex scheme.

The Town is very susceptible to flooding from high tides coming up the River.

With regular flooding becoming more of a problem for the future, the idea of a “Tidal Barrier” on the Boyne Estuary should never be ruled out. As a means of reducing Flood Risk to the Town.

Recent reports say that in Holland, Nine Million of the population live below sea level, so naturally they would be the experts when it comes to the threat of flooding.

As recently highlighted in a Seminar in Cork with regard to Flooding the new and perhaps not so new thinking that prevails in Holland is quite simple.

We have got to leave room for our rivers , which is very logical when you think about it.

We should no longer be doing land grabs of River Banks or stilting into the river channel and worst of all building on our natural floodplains.

Perhaps the whole rejuvenation programme of the Marsh Rd should centre around this Principle and set any proposed development well back from the river.

Instead of following blindly the development that has already taken place along the River in recent years.

As part of the Bigger Programme, or indeed independent of it; Louth Co. Council could Compulsory Purchase all Derelict properties on Ship Street and demolish and rebuild using the old stone materials.

A new Ship Street could be recreated using the original stone ,brick and slate materials, raising the existing low foundations and street levels.

Surrounding the New Ship street with a concrete” Bund” for flood protection with gradual up and down ramping of vehicular and pedestrian access points.

The properties could then be put to good use and become part of the Council’s Housing Stock. Yours , Hugh D Conlon Main St. Dunleer Co. Louth