Plans for 600 homes in West Cork in jeopardy due to 'maxed out' water supply 

County councillors says there is an urgent need to augment drinking water supply or increase storage levels to offset a supply crisis developing in Clonakilty.

Plans for the development of around 600 houses in Clonakilty, Co Cork are in jeopardy because the water supply is already “maxed-out” and this could also have implications for employment growth, tourism and agriculture.

Water is extracted from the Argideen River for the town and some of its outlying villages and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has put a cap on the amount of daily extraction at 4,500,000 litres. The situation is so critical that during the summer months when many tourists arrive in the area, the maximum is reached on a near-daily basis.

A number of years ago the county council developed a strategy to augment the supply by drawing water from the Curralickey lake at Drinagh via a new pipeline to Clonakilty.

However, when Irish Water took over the running of water and sewerage projects the council abandoned these plans.

The latest proposal that has been suggested is a connection to the Bandon supply. However, this has not been developed.

Failure to increase supply or storage could effectively hamper the development of the town

A meeting of the council's Western Division heard how acute the situation was for further development in the area.

“In the Clonakilty water supply area, particularly the town of Clonakilty, there are planning permissions for up to 600 houses to come to completion by 2022 with the corresponding increase in water demand,” Fine Gael councillor John O'Sullivan said.

He pointed out that Clonakilty is a designated 'development hub town' in the new Cork County Development Plan and to grow it urgently needs a new water supply.

“Clonakilty is also a renowned tourist location on the Wild Atlantic Way and the hinterland is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the country. Failure to increase supply or storage could effectively hamper the development of the town and the whole area,” Mr O'Sullivan said.

Fellow councillors agreed with him when he said there's an urgent need to augment supply or increase storage levels to offset a supply crisis developing.

Mr O'Sullivan said that on a number of occasions in recent years tankers had to be used to draw water to the Ardgehane reservoir, on the south-east of the town, to supply the Seven Heads Peninsula, where the villages of Ring, Lislevane, Butlerstown, Courtmacsherry and Timoleague are situated with a population of up to 4,000 people.

He expressed a fear that if water demand is to increase in Clonakilty then the Seven Heads Peninsula could be the worst affected.

“The implications of a supply shortage are grave and immediate. Lack of supply could result in the failure to get planning permission for housing, intermittent supply may have effects on agricultural production and may have animal welfare implications if supply is interrupted during periods of very warm weather,” he said.

“An impaired water supply could jeopardise progress in the Seven Heads Peninsula that has become a growth area over the last number of years. The area has significant employment with Barryroe Co-op, Staunton's foods, many top-class restaurants and tourist attractions in the villages along with significant agricultural output,” Mr O'Sullivan said.

The recent completion of the Courtmacsherry/Timoleague sewerage plant has created the potential for further housing and employment in both villages.

Councillors have requested their management to contact Irish Water to urgently address the situation.

Similar issues have been raised recently by councillors in East Cork about development being stifled in Midleton because the sewerage treatment plant there is at capacity.

The council has written to Irish Water seeking an urgent update on its proposing to do to address this.