River dredging works at K Club 'may impact salmon spawning'

Complaints alleging unauthorised development have been lodged with Kildare County Council regarding the generator project, carried out at the five-star K Club resort near Straffan.

A State agency claims that unauthorised river dredging works at one of the country’s most high-profile golf clubs could negatively impact the salmon-spawning season.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the State body which is responsible for managing and protecting Ireland’s inland angling resources and fish stocks, complained last August to Kildare County Council that the installation of a hydroelectric generator on the River Liffey at the five-star K Club golf resort constituted an unauthorised development.

After the Irish Examiner reported the matter, the local authority said that it was referring the IFI complaint back to the body itself to resolve as it “does not deem this to be a planning enforcement issue”.

In response, IFI said that neither the hydroelectric build nor other associated works to the main channel of the Liffey had been sanctioned by it.

An IFI spokesperson said that Kildare County Council had asserted the issue “was not an enforcement matter” and had instead “referred it to their forward planning/ecology sections for consideration and review”.

The spokesperson said that IFI would continue “to investigate the issue”, and had plans to further check the turbine screens on the hydroelectric generator — which stop fish from being injured during migration — to evaluate their “suitability”.

However, the spokesperson added that “during the recent site visits, IFI staff observed there was evidence of recent instream works involving machinery within the River Liffey in the vicinity of the weir”.

The timing of such dredging works — which are typically carried out in such scenarios to improve the flow of water through a turbine — is regulated to minimise the impact on fish populations, and in salmon catchments no such works are permitted between October and June of each year.

“The appropriate window for any instream works is between July and September, but only with the guidance and permission of IFI,” the spokesperson said.

The K Club was queried as to whether it had sought permission to dredge the river from IFI or the local authority. A reply had not been received at the time of publication.

A company called Eco Hydro was retained by the K Club last year to “restore and improve” the facility’s existing hydroelectric generator, which uses the flow of the adjacent Liffey to provide power to the club.

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Meanwhile, it would appear Kildare County Council’s conclusion that the K Club generator does not represent a planning issue is at odds with the response of another Leinster local authority to a similar application.

In January 2023, the trustees of Birr Castle in Offaly lodged an application with the county council — also via Eco Hydro — to have a new hydro-power generator installed on the River Camcor. That application was withdrawn after the authority requested further information following an intervention by IFI.