8^th May 2018Green Party Rejects Dublin City Plans to demolish Listed HousingThe Green Party has called on Dublin City Council officials to withdraw their proposals to delist and demolish some of the city’s oldest housing stock. In a report for discussion by the City Councils Housing committee on 9th May the Assistant Chief Executive with responsibility for Housing Mr. Brendan Kenny suggests “Phased demolition and re-build” as an option, and that “some ... complexes may be protected structures and a case by case assessment of each site will be required.Green party councillor Ciarán Cuffe said:"The social fabric of communities takes generations to build and is at risk of being torn asunder with these proposals. At a time when there is a housing crisis it is wrong to demolish existing housing units - Knocking down listed buildings is not the answer to the housing crisis. There are tracts of land in O’Devany Gardens, Bridgefoot Street, Dominick street where the Council demolished housing and left sites empty for decades. Council officials need to up their ambition and fast-track construction on these empty sites.“It is entirely feasible to undertake deep retrofits of our existing housing at a lower cost than new-build. The Dublin School of Architecture at the Dublin Institute of Technology has shown that this is achievable and efficient. It is possible to upgrade housing blocks to an A energy standard and provide for universal access for people with disabilities with lifts to the upper floors. The Iveagh Trust have successfully achieved this with their housing stock, and added additional housing units. There is no reason why Dublin City Council cannot do the same.“I am calling on Mr. Kenny to withdraw his plans for the demolition of housing blocks in the midst of a housing crisis. It is time to build, not demolish.”ENDSPublished and uploaded 8th May 2018