“It’s welcome news about the redevelopment of the streetscape and that the potential of Elizabeth Fort will be realised over the next twelve months. However, the amount of dereliction on the street also needs to be seriously tackled. There are property owners on Barrack Street, who are working very hard to make sure their premises are clean and welcoming. Then there are owners who seem to have vanished off the face of the earth, walked away from their property and have done absolutely nothing to tidy up their property on the street for years. In an ideal world, the Council should start thinking about buying those properties that have been vacant for years and do them up as affordable or social housing units. That or expand the cultural hub around Elizabeth Fort by creating artist workshop units. To have the oldest street in the city looking what it is at the moment doesn’t create a sense of pride for the people actively living and working in the area. The dereliction is unsightly in some parts of the street”.