OPW criticised for lack of action on flood plains by mother of three in Clare

A mother of three, who lives on a flood plain, has criticised the Office of Public Works after it “put on hold” an application for funding by Clare County Council for the appointment of consultants to investigate flooding in the area and propose solutions.

Bridget Kinsella complained “nothing has been done” for the residents of Springfield, Clonlara, where homes have repeatedly been destroyed in winter floods.

The Clare local authority said last June it sought “funding approval from the OPW to appoint consultants to carry out a focused feasibility study with a view to identifying a sustainable solution to the historic flooding issues at Springfield”.

In a statement, the OPW said the application has been “put on hold”.

Last month, nearly a year on from devastating floods in Springfield, the OPW asked residents to provide photographic evidence of flooding. The area was also badly flooded in 2005 and 2009.

Bridget Kinsella said: “It’s coming into winter again and we just feel abandoned. The OPW asked us for photographic evidence that there was a flood here — what planet are they living on — it was all over the news for weeks last year and earlier this year.”

“They are insulting our intelligence. We feel we have been left in limbo. We are literally prisoners in our own homes. I can’t sell my home, I can’t move out because I can’t afford to go anywhere else,” she added.

Independent Clare councillor Micheal Begley told residents in a letter, that the council was “concerned” over maps used by the OPW in the CFRAM study for assessing flood risk.

The OPW stated it has used maps which were “developed prior to the flooding of last winter”, but which used “information available at the time, including information on the (flood) of November 2009”.