Derry's Creggan Heights residents could benefit from new scheme

Over 100 Creggan Heights houses could benefit from a new scheme aimed at repairing the ageing properties.

A two-day consultation is currently being held in the Corn Beef Tin to inform residents on the details of the scheme. The consultation ends later today (Thursday).

Residents have had to face years of winters with poor insulation and other issues as they awaited the repair scheme.

Local councillor Emma McGinley said the consultation is a chance for residents to see the scheme has genuinely progressed.

“It's a positive step in knowing that this scheme is actually going to happen and then the plan just has to go to the department for approval and all being well that that does happen work will be starting in spring,” the Sinn Féin councillor said.

“It's been a long time coming. Tina Burke was a councillor in Creggan before I was and Kevin Campbell before that and this had been going on when they were in the council. So it's been a long time for the people up in Creggan Heights and I'm just glad to see progress on it.”

She says she has been liaising with the residents and asking the Housing Executive their questions up to this point. However, the consultation will be a chance for the residents to speak directly to those involved.

“So the residents can just call and see the plan and what works will actually entail, they can chat to the contractors, consultants, local management officers as well.

“It just gives them that chance if they have any questions or have any updates that they can drop in and ask those questions themselves and get the answers directly from the horse's mouth, as the saying goes.”

The houses face issues caused naturally by wear and tear over time. Initially the idea for the scheme was floated for insulation but more issues presented themselves upon investigation.

“Essentially those houses have been up a long, long time and there is a lot of maintenance work that is required. This scheme was initially talked about over nine years ago in order to try and bring the houses up to standard.

“It started off as a cavity wall scheme to try and reduce dampness and everything else but when they came out and did the various surveys and consultations it was discovered there was other work that needed to be done.

“So the scheme is going to look at the entirety of the house and not just the cavity walls and make sure that they're insulated properly, the dampness is gone and that they’re homes that people can live in and feel safe and cosy and everything else that comes with that.”

The residents have faced a near decade long wait to see this scheme progress to this point. They’ve seen multiple consultations happen already but Cllr McGinley has sought assurances that this time is different.

“There have been numerous consultations up until now so there was a bit of hesitation when we spoke to residents. So myself, Ciara Ferguson and Patricia Lougue met with the housing executive back in November to try and push and make sure that this was going to happen this time. We met with the Head of the Asset Management Team, the local management and some of the contractors.

“The Head of the Asset Management Team said they said they were waiting on the contractors to come back with consultation responses as to what work was actually required and we would move from there.

“We met with the local management in February this year to get an update and then in April this year we met with Grainia Long, who is the head of the Housing Executive in the North and the asset management team and we got a rough timeline.

“So we had updated to residents at that time that this was the plan they had laid out to us and all being well with the plan that this work would proceed in spring 2024 so this would be the last winter that they would be facing draughty houses and it being quite cold and hard to heat and everything else.”

The Housing Executive could not offer comment beyond confirming the consultation process.