Concern legal issues may delay town’s flood defence works
The issue came to light yesterday when councillors were extensively briefed by local authority officials on continuing plans for flood defences.
They were told the county council and OPW were seeking legal advice on proposals to deliberately flood land upstream and to the west of the town to protect householders and businesses.
Clonakilty-based Cllr Donal O’Rourke (FF) said he was concerned the proposal could lead to the scheme dragging on and maintained such an interim solution would protect the town until its full flood defences are in place — which will take a number of years to complete.
“Deliberate flooding of lands is complex and may lead to compensation. The council and OPW are seeking legal advice on this,” council engineer Joan Dineen said. She said a preliminary report on all flood defence options for the town would be ready by June.
Ms Dineen explained, in the meantime, the OPW had decided not to allow the county council carry out some scheduled interim works as they could interfere with an overall plan to protect Clonakilty.
“They’ve (the OPW) maintained their stance that temporary solutions could result in risk and lead to a serious knock-on effect,” she said. The engineer said there were a number of other areas in West Cork which had flooding issues, including Castletownbere, Dunmanway, Bantry, Durrus and Schull.
Preferred options for their flood defences should be ready by late 2014, she said.
Cllr Christopher O’Sullivan (FF) criticised the delay surrounding the flooding of farmers’ land which he described as “vital to take the pressure off the river” in the event of further flooding. “We have to take the lead here because people say this will work,” he added.
Meanwhile, a planned €6m upgrade of Clonakilty’s sewage treatment plant will commence within a matter of weeks.
The plant has been operating above its capacity for several years.
Cllr O’Rourke said he was pleased about the planned progress of the plant although he noted similar promises were made to councillors last April.
The work was vital, he maintained, because during thesummer the smells from the plant were obnoxious.
Cllr O’Rourke said the town was celebrating the 400th anniversary of its founding during the summer and expected a large influx of tourists who he didn’t want to greeted with foul smells.
Councillors were also informed that proposal to upgrade a smaller sewage treatment system, in nearby Shannonvale, cannot be undertaken until the Clonakilty plant was upgraded.
