Mussels may deal blow to Mallow’s ‘hub status’

One of the country’s leading planning consultants fears Mallow’s "hub town" status may be revoked if a quick solution is not found to improving water quality in the River Blackwater.

Brian McCutcheon made his comment after it was revealed an EU directive looks likely to put major housing and industrial development on hold along the Blackwater Valley because of the presence of the freshwater pearl mussel.

The revelation sent shockwaves around County Hall last Monday as the EU wants the mussel protected because it is susceptible to pollution and its numbers have declined by 8% since 2007.

Mr McCutcheon said he had held pre-planning discussions with council officials on behalf of clients for two developments of 30 and 25 houses in Mallow and Fermoy respectively.

He said he was told that until such time as the mussel issue was resolved there was no point in lodging the applications.

In 2007 the Government designated Mallow as a hub town for significant growth, but unless waste water treatment systems are upgraded to protect the mussel little further growth can be achieved. In line with its hub town status, the County Development Plan had earmarked Mallow for more than 4,000 additional housing units by 2022.

Mr McCutcheon said this hub status was already damaged by the decision to mothball the planned M20 (Cork-Limerick motorway) and the latest problem “has potentially very serious implications”.

Cllr Kevin O’Keeffe (FF) described the mussel situation as “a pure disaster.”

He said that planning permissions which had been granted but not activated for some reason should be credited against new applications.