Hearing to discuss plan to use river for town’s water supply
Development and planning applications in the town have virtually ground to a halt due to an inadequate public water supply, but there is local opposition to the council’s plan for the Sheen, which would supplement the current Lough Eirk source.
People in the rural area of Bonane in the Sheen catchment, Kenmare Chamber of Commerce and anglers are strongly objecting to the plan and suggest instead that the council investigate mountain lakes as sources.
Bonane residents fear the imposition of new curbs on development and farming activities if the Sheen becomes a source of drinking water and have threatened to take the matter to Europe if necessary.
Concerns have also been raised about the potential impact on wild salmon stocks, amid claims that water levels in the Sheen can fall very low in summer.
Last October, despite objections from residents and a number of county councillors, the council voted in favour of an abstraction order for the Sheen, which then went out for public consultation. As a result of that process, a number of objections were lodged with An Bord Pleanála, which is holding the oral hearing in the Kenmare Bay Hotel today and tomorrow.
The council has been searching for a supplementary water supply for Kenmare since 2002 and three consultants’ reports have been commissioned, at a cost of €500,000. All the reports have pinpointed the Sheen as the best source of water, according to council engineers.
County manager Tom Curran said the council had no option but to explore the possibility of sourcing water from the Sheen.
If an alternative water supply for Kenmare was not found, he warned, councillors could leave themselves open to prosecution as the town’s current water supply has a disinfection facility but no physical treatment.
Senior engineers stressed the current supply is vulnerable to contamination by water-borne pathogen, cryptosporidium.
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