Group goes to court over water plan

An ancient river valley community is taking legal proceedings against Kerry County Council over plans to extract water from a river to supply Kenmare town.

An Bord Pleanála gave the go-ahead in late 2011 for a proposal to take water from the Sheen River to supplement the water supply.

The tourist town is running short of treated water. Attempts to locate supplementary supplies have been continuing for almost a decade. But the proposal to take water from the river — near the Sheen Falls, a point at the end of the valley near Kenmare — has been stoutly resisted at all stages.

An oral hearing into the proposal in Apr 2011 heard objections from farmers, anglers and environmentalists, as well as an inspector from the fishery authority.

However, the board ruled in the council’s favour, saying there would be no significant impact on the environment. It did cap the extraction at 2,500 cubic metres a day in any 24-hour period and said when the river was low, extraction should cease altogether.

The Bonane Community Council, representing the valley which extends along the Sheen River to West Cork, is now arguing a full environmental impact assessment should have been carried out.

The river rises in a special area of conservation and flows into Kenmare Bay, also a special area of conservation. It is also a treasure trove of ancient monuments including megalithic tombs which are only beginning to be uncovered.

Under EU law the EIA is required, the Bonane community has now argued in papers handed into court.

The matter is scheduled to begin at the Circuit Court in Tralee in the middle of next month.

Work on the building of a pump house cannot proceed until the court makes a decision, a council spokesman confirmed yesterday.