Cork flood relief schemes mired in lengthy planning delays
Mud left in the car park after floods at Hazelwood Shopping Centre in Glanmire. Picture: Larry Cummins
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste may have laid the blame for delays to flood relief schemes on local objectors but long-awaited defences in Midleton and Glanmire show how projects can also get bogged down by painstaking processes and other issues.
In 2015, Storm Frank led to a major consultation on preventive measures in several of the worst-hit areas in Cork. It followed previous major flood events in Cork in 2012 and 2009.
Ireland was also hit by Storm Ellen in 2020, Storm Barra in 2021, and Storm Eunice in 2022, all of which impacted Cork.
Despite this, Glanmire has only recently begun construction on its flood relief project, while Midleton is still mired in the planning stages.
This week, Storm Babet left 100 homes flooded and caused untold damage to business properties in Midleton.
While the damage was unprecedented, it was foreseen at least eight years ago after Storm Frank in 2015.
On March 23, 2017, a public information day for the Midleton Flood Relief Scheme was held in the town after previous floods caused widespread destruction.
The next month, locals were told a geophysical survey would be carried out in Midleton by Apex Surveys.
A number of residents queried funding for the flood relief project and the timescale for the start and finish of construction, which at the time was envisaged for 2020.
In May 2018, Cork County Council appointed Moore Group to undertake a kingfisher and badger survey for the Owenacurra and Dungourney rivers, which was completed in July 2018.
In 2020, the council said that its best estimate for construction for the flood relief scheme would be for works to “commence in 2025, but this is subject to change”.
Earlier this year, the council said the environmental impact assessment report was being prepared and that planning permission would be applied for in the first part of 2024. The cost is estimated to be €50m.
Local TD Pat Buckley said a plan to address the flooding was “immediately raised” following Storm Frank in 2015. “Nothing happened quickly though,” he said.
Just like in Midleton, the residents of Glanmire knew many years ago that they were vulnerable to flooding.
In February 2014, the first public information day for the Glashaboy River (Glanmire/Sallybrook) Flood Relief Scheme took place.
In January 2015, Cork County Council said it was carrying out property threshold surveys.
In May 2020, the Office of Public Works received correspondence from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that an independent assessment was in progress.
The flood relief scheme, the council said, would be funded from within the allocated €1bn for flood risk management over the period 2018 to 2027.
In January 2021, then minister for public expenditure and reform Michael McGrath confirmed the scheme would proceed.
It is estimated to cost in the region of €14m.
In August this year, it was announced the multimillion-euro flood prevention scheme had just got under way in Glanmire.
TD Pádraig O’Sullivan told the Irish Examiner that the process took “far too long” but that it involved objections and planning issues.
“We were set back by a delay in the tendering process,” he said.
“So, it had to be done again. This set us back. We have had unprecedented levels of rain, but this process has been going on for years. It shouldn’t take this long.”
Objections have been made to the Blackpool flood relief scheme where the State conceded it did not offer a proper public consultation process.
The Morrisons Island flood scheme in Cork city was given the green light after an appeals process that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Chris Moody from the Save Our Bride Otters group said: “I have huge sympathy for those who have lost so much in these floods, but I take offence at anyone saying that the objectors are to blame.
“The floods are caused by the bad planning of the councils involved.
“They are working on systems from 20 years ago and this is their fault.
“We have objected to the Blackpool project over the council’s outdated plans.”
Bernie Connolly from Cork Environmental Forum, which objected to a number of the schemes, said: “We are not making room for the rivers and flood plains, and it is absolutely outrageous to blame the objectors when planning has been so bad.”
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