New group to mount legal challenge to Cork's Blackpool flood defence plans

Save Our Bride Otters believe the OPW’s plans are unnecessarily expensive, will result in more flooding instead of less, and will see a loss of habitat for the European otters

The Bride River at Orchard Court, Blackpool, Cork is set to be covered in concrete as part of flood protection measures. Picture: Larry Cummins

A newly formed environmental group is seeking a judicial review of the OPW’s Blackpool Flood Relief Scheme, which would see the River Bride covered over through Blackpool village.

The group, Save Our Bride Otters (SOBO), say they believe the OPW’s plans are unnecessarily expensive, will result in more flooding instead of less, and will see a loss of habitat for the European otters, a protected species, which live on the Bride.

They believe the €20.5m project should not have been given the go-ahead by Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath earlier this month and they are mounting a legal challenge to his decision.

The group say the proposed works are unnecessarily expensive, that the culverting aspect is likely to be the cause of more flooding long-term, rather than relieving potential flooding, and that the proposed works are too damaging to the habitat of the community of European otters (a protected species) which are living and breeding in the river Bride.

Up to 350m of culverting through Blackpool Village will essentially “bury” the northside river, they say.

SOBO spokesperson Chris Moody, a resident of Blackpool who frequently films and photographs the wildlife of the river Bride, said the river was “a healthy little ecosystem and a neglected jewel in Blackpool”. 

 “This proposal from the OPW is a completely unnecessary and expensive destruction of a very busy and valuable wildlife habitat,” he said. “We have no option but to oppose it.” 

Flooding in the area has been caused by excessive development which has speeded up the flow of water in the Bride, according to the group, who want an alternative plan based on “upstream storage using nature-based solutions, which will be more effective than concrete-based solutions at a fraction of the cost to the State.” 

Blackpool village homes and businesses have suffered severe flooding in the past, most notably in a spate of events from 2010 to 2013.

Arup, the engineers for Blackpool Flood Relief Scheme, say the OPW plan will protect 293 properties from future flooding.

Local Independent councillor Kenneth O’Flynn said that while the SOBO group had a right to a judicial review, he didn’t welcome further delays to the flood relief works.

“I have a feeling that this group is very much speaking for the minority in Blackpool,” he said. “For most business owners in Blackpool, who are living in fear every time there’s a downpour, I think they are very much in support of the project. 

“We need to allow businesses to reopen and flourish in the area. No-one is willing to take the risk of investing in Blackpool because you can’t get flood insurance.”