Cash delay may damage bay forever

THE Seven Heads ranks amongst the most scenic, least spoiled areas of coastal west Cork.

Wild cliffs, broad beaches, sandy coves, and open ocean are its obvious attractions and it is only an hour’s drive from Cork city’s streets.

Courtmacsherry village is pretty as a picture postcard, with the bay in front and mature woodland behind. Timoleague’s ruined, 13th century Franciscan abbey, reflected in the waters of Courtmacsherry Bay by day and floodlit by night, is one of the finest examples of medieval ecclesiastical architecture in Ireland. The bay is fed by one of Munster’s best salmonoid rivers, the Argideen, famous for its sea trout fishery. Ornithologists value the bay for the number and diversity of migrant seabirds that over-winter on the mudflats, amongst them internationally important populations of black-tailed godwit, golden plover, and great northern diver, and nationally important populations of ten other species. Such is the wealth of scenery, history, and wildlife that the estuary is to be designated an Area of Special Conservation in 2009.

Delay in eradicating the green weed that has colonised the bay over the last decade threatens all aspects of this unique heritage. Scientific studies say the weed is fertilised by untreated waste water and nutrient run-off from silage spreading. In view of the urgent situation, silage-spreading was voluntarily reduced by local farmers and a new waste-water treatment plant was designed and approved by Cork County Council. Construction of the plant faces delays as the relatively modest budget awaits approval in the Department of the Environment.

Soon after coming into office, Environment Minister John Gormley promised installation of a modern system for Courtmacsherry/Timoleague would be a priority. The plans have been on his desk for five months. The budget assessed by local authority engineers was €6m. It was proposed that the treated water be piped out to sea, but the Courtmacsherry Development Association agreed to save this expense in return for guarantees that a third-level UVA treatment unit would be added to the standard first- and second-level treatments. These guarantees were given.

Gormley’s department has approved only €2.7m. Locals and county councillors say this is insufficient to construct an efficient facility. Residents, who have seen the detrimental results of the inadequate system now in place, demand a full treatment plant. The waste matter that fertilises the weed must be eliminated. A less than efficient facility would not achieve this and the cost would be money flushed away.

It is predicted that in 2009 more Irish people will holiday at home, and Courtmacsherry, Dunworley and the Seven Heads are an obvious choice. Residents know that, come summer, the bay and local beaches will again be inundated by the weed. It is madness to allow the degeneration of this unique environment just to save a sum that would not have bought six modest houses in the area two years ago. In time, the economy will recover, but the economic and heritage value of the bay may suffer irreversibly. Once the proposed budget is approved, the plant would not take long to build. The facility at Kilbrittain, also on the bay, was installed in months. The water quality from the river draining the village changed, almost overnight, from pellucid to clear and sparkling as it entered the bay.

While the proposed primary and secondary state-of-the-art filtering will remove nutrients, and UVA treatment destroys bacteria, the weed will not disappear immediately. Environmentalists argue that the residue should be seen as a resource rather than a waste product. A licence is required for its removal; if an ongoing Environmental Protection Agency analysis establishes that the chemical element selenium, a component, is at safe levels, farmers should be allowed to collect algae for fertiliser, given guidelines regarding its condition and times at which it may be spread. Council clean-up costs would be greatly reduced, and the more weed removed the less weed will grow.

In the past, when rates were levied on farms, the assessment of coastal holdings was higher than those inland, on the basis that there was access to free seaweed fertiliser. A manageable amount of the weed might yet prove a boon.