Call for probe into Blackpool flood

There were calls last night for an independent inquiry into what caused the flood which swamped a Cork community for the second time in nine months last week.

It came as a report on the Blackpool flood suggested that blocked trash screens, and not reduced culvert capacity, was to blame.

City manager Tim Lucey said there was no evidence that rock left in the river Bride after engineering works on a bridge contributed to the incident.

However, he has asked the consultants who designed those works for a report on the matter within days.

He said the council was not in receipt of a severe weather warning from Met Éireann last Thursday and therefore did not issue a flood warning locally.

He also pledged to take swift action to reduce flood risk in the area in the short-term pending the delivery of a long-term solution from the Office of Public Works (OPW).

“Pending the OPW report and funding of necessary works, which are likely to take some years, I am arranging for the engagement of a consultant to advise on the need for and design of additional trash screens [in the River Bride] and monitoring provisions to be put in place.”

Cllr Pat Gosch (FG) dismissed Mr Lucey’s report and said the 15 tonnes of rock left in the river played a central role in the flood.

“This was a man-made flood,” she said. She slammed the OPW for delays on progressing flood prevention plans for Cork and Blackpool, and called for an independent report on the flood.

“Residents feel deserted by the authorities.”

A furious Cllr Tom Gould (SF) walked out of the meeting in protest over the lack of progress on flood protection works for the area. “I’m in here three years and Blackpool has flooded twice in that time. Feck the procedure. Blackpool is flooding every fecking year,” he said.

In his report, Mr Lucey said there was a large flow in the River Bride, which came close to full capacity last Thursday.

A trash screen in the river at Orchard Court was checked at 3.30pm and found to the clear but a blockage there later restricted channel capacity which led to overflows at Orchard Court.

The report said while channel and culvert capacity was the main cause of the 2012 flood in Blackpool, it was not the main factor last Thursday.

Culvert capacity is the subject of a review by the OPW as part of the Lower Lee Flood Protection Scheme but consultants have yet to be appointed.

Cllr Ken O’Flynn (FF) led calls for a rates holiday for Blackpool businesses, but Mr Lucey ruled it out.

Mr O’Flynn also hit out at former city councillors, Labour TD Ciaran Lynch and Fine Gael TD Dara Murphy, for failing to deliver on flood protection since their arrival in Government.

“After the 2009 flood, people were in here beating their chests that the OPW was doing nothing,” he said. “Now, two-and-a-half years on, we haven’t even had a report yet.”

A delegation of Blackpool traders and residents is due to travel to Dublin tomorrow to Minister Brian Hayes, who has responsibility for the OPW, to discuss flood prevention plans.