Estate residents dispute council finding that ponds are safe

Residents on an east Cork housing estate are disputing the findings of a county council report which claims two local water retention ponds are not a danger to children.

The ponds, both at Millbrook Court in Midleton, form part of four depressions installed when the estate was built about 15 years ago. They measure approximately five feet deep and run to 60 feet in circumference.

The ponds collect and gradually release surplus rain into the main drainage system. Local resident and father of three Pearse McCarthy warned the residual water levels are increasingly prone to rising sharply and dangerously.