Councillor attacks OPW for dropping flood road relief plans

A DECISION by the Office of Public Works (OPW) not to proceed with plans to alleviate flooding on one of the busiest roads in the South East has been branded “shortsighted” by a local city councillor.

The OPW yesterday confirmed a proposal to carry out works on the main

Waterford to Tramore road was scrapped because the costs were too high.

It estimated €9 million would be needed to prevent flooding on a section of the road under the John’s River flood scheme.

“For €9m they are willing to cut off the overall development of Tramore,” Independent councillor Cha O’Neill said yesterday.

“This is a long-running problem and unless it is fixed you can be assured the road will be closed twice a year due to flooding,” he added.

Tramore is one of the fastest growing towns in the country, with a growing population of more than 6,500. Many commuters last week had to find an alternative route to and from the city as the road was impassable for almost four days.

“Everyone has to be diverted through back roads, which are dangerous and cause disturbance to the people in areas such as Avondale, Ursuline Court and Cherrymount,” Mr O’Neill said.

“We’ll always have a problem unless Minister Tom Parlon does something about it,” he said.

An OPW spokesperson said monies allocated to flood relief in the area were restricted to areas where buildings and property were under threat.

“The Tramore road has been omitted from the revised flood relief scheme,” he said. “The reason for the omission is it was estimated to cost €9m and the works would not have the effect of protecting property.”

Meanwhile, in Wexford two separate calls have been made to repair damage caused by last week’s floods.

Mayor of Wexford Davy Hynes has called for a capital grant from the Department of the Environment to restore infrastructure such as roads and bridges that were affected by flood waters.

The Fine Gael spokesperson on health, Dr Liam Twomey, has called for a compensation fund to be set up to help individual householders.

“I would like to remind people in the south that we did have success before in getting compensation from the Dept of Finance when the Tolka River flooded,” he said.

He called on householders and businesses to make their cases known to their local representatives to ensure adequate funds could be sought.