Funding 'badly needed' - Butts resident speaks out on regeneration plan

Residents in the Butts community in Kilkenny City hope a regeneration plan to revitalise the area will be fulfilled by Kilkenny County Council.

Funding of €850,000 has been made available to the area and will allow the local authority to carry out a detailed assessment of the locality and to engage fully with residents to determine what measures could best benefit the community now living there.

An outline of the process to be involved in the preparation of a plan for the Butts Area Regeneration was provided to the elected members of Kilkenny City Municipal District on Tuesday, February 13 and engagement with residents will commence as early as possible according to the local authority.

Town Regeneration Officer, Annette Fitzpatrick told elected members at last Tuesday’s meeting that leaflets will be dropped into households on Friday and a community meeting will be held by the end of this month or the beginning of March.

The Kilkenny People understands that the project is expected to be driven by the local residents with a committee and residents liaison officer to be established.

According to Ms Fitzpatrick, a 'significant survey' of people's housing needs for the next 20 years will take place and will cover 'all social areas in the Butts'.

Pierce Street resident, Veronica Maher told the Kilkenny People that the funding is 'badly needed', adding, vital amenities have not been available for some time.

"There's no amenities here anymore. Everyone woke up here one morning to discover the playground was gone. No one was told in the Butts they were going to take out the playground," she said.

"They need to set up a meeting with the residents of the Butts and talk to us properly. I hope people from the area are going to be on the residents committee so their voices can be heard," Ms Maher added, criticising a 'lack of communication' and 'empty promises' in the past.

"Meetings don't happen often enough. We’re blindsided all the time. Our opinions and our voices are not being heard," she claimed, adding, "at the end of the day people call this area a deprived area, it's far from deprived. I've lived here all my life and it’s 100% everyone has each other’s back, it's a great neighbourhood."

Ms Maher hopes the funding announcement will see an improvement in local facilities, claiming there's nowhere for children to go aside from the Waterbarracks.

Stephen Murphy, Director of Services at the Fr McGrath Centre, also welcomed the funding.

"It's long overdue, the community have been asking for this for 30/40 years," he said.

"We're looking forward to creating a partnership with the council that will help us improve the quality of life for families in the area."