The £250 million plan to transform Ballymun in north Dublin into a model town for the 21st century is in jeopardy because of planning appeals and a threatened judicial review.
The judicial review has been sought by a Belgian-born musician, Mr Robert Guillemot. A resident of one of the seven tower blocks in Ballymun, he believes the plan to demolish the 1960s high-rise housing estate is wholly misconceived.
Mr Guillemot is challenging decisions by Dublin Corporation to grant planning permission for five of the initial replacement housing schemes planned by Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, the corporation subsidiary set up to plan the area's redevelopment.
Earlier, Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) appealed to An Bord Pleanala against three other housing schemes, also approved by the corporation, arguing that there should have been an environmental impact assessment of the entire project.
Though FIE accepts that each of the housing schemes is under the two-hectare threshold for a full EIA, it notes that the redevelopment covers 220 hectares.
It also objects to a proposed reduction in public open spaces, notably in the area of Poppintree Park.
The High Court has set a date of October 11th to determine if there are grounds for judicial review.
If the court grants leave for a review, Mr Guillemot will seek orders of discovery against the corporation for all relevant documentation.
A spokesman for FIE said the purpose of seeking an environmental impact assessment was to expose all the elements of the plan to public inspection.
"This will ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated and that all the rights of the tenants are respected."
Mr Ciaran Murray, managing director of Ballymun Regeneration, said yesterday that the housing schemes had been subjected to the most extensive public consultation, including more than 50 meetings with design groups representing tenants.
Although he accepted that individual citizens had a right to object and appeal, Mr Murray warned that the challenges being made "puts a cloud of uncertainty" over the entire development plan, with the risk that people in Ballymun could be "shortchanged".
He explained that work was meant to start on 620 new homes in the area this autumn, but if their completion was held up by planning appeals and court action, some of the existing blocks could not be demolished to make new sites available for development.
Given that the latest scheme of urban renewal tax incentives is due to expire in 2002 and that the European Commission is unlikely to agree to a further extension, Mr Murray said there was a "very narrow window of opportunity" for the plan. He said the new-look main street, in particular, was in danger. Here, Ballymun Regeneration Ltd is banking on the private sector taking sites to develop mixed commercial buildings up to five-storeys high along a tree-lined boulevard envisaged by the master plan.
"Any delay is a problem because we won't be able to demolish the flats and release sites for investment unless we can build the new homes," Mr Murray warned.
"Essentially, what went wrong with Ballymun when it was first built 30 years ago is that it never developed like a normal town," he said.
Delays could "seriously compromise" plans for the social regeneration of the area.
The danger now was that continuing delays would "seriously compromise" plans for the social and economic regeneration of the area.
Mr Murray and his colleagues fear most that the current uncertainty could so deter much-needed private sector investment in Ballymun that only the replacement housing will materialise, with few of the facilities required to sustain a vibrant community.
