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.