Lack of water supply in Kenmare 'stifling' development of much-needed housing, councillors told
Plans for up to 200 new homes in Kenmare are at risk due to insufficient water supply, councillors hear. Picture: Don MacMonagle
Kenmare in Co Kerry is facing “an east coast scenario” where house building is "stifled" by a lack of water supply, a meeting of the local authority has heard.
A €25m waste water treatment plant is nearing completion for the town, but Kenmare Municipal District has been told the heritage town is now running out of water.
During the recent dry spell, Kenmare's water supply was one of 22 locations nationally declared to be in drought status.
In 2017, after decades of water quality issues, Kenmare finally got a €4.5m water treatment plant for its supply from a mountain lake and river near Moll’s Gap, but there has been no progress on finding much-needed additional water supply sources.
Plans by Kerry County Council to extract water from the River Sheen to supplement the Kenmare supply failed in 2014, after a successful court challenge by residents in nearby Bonane, who opposed the extraction of water from the salmon-fishing river.
While the €25m waste water treatment plant is currently nearing completion, plans for up to 200 new homes in the town are still at risk, the council has been told.
A new local area plan created new zones for houses but councillors have told the local authority planning concerns remain because of insufficient water supply.
Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae said Uisce Éireann was to look into additional water sources for the last four years, including wells and ground sources, but no new supplies have been identified.
“There is no extra water and water is actually being taken from the town now to supply Bonane and Templenoe,” Mr Healy-Rae said.
House building had been curbed for more than a decade, he said.
“We are in an awful way for housing. Kerry County Council was the only one building a house in Kenmare in the past 15 years,” he said.
Anyone not on the social housing list had “no hope”, he added.
He called on the council to write again to Uisce Éireann about the additional water supply for Kenmare.
“They are looking at it with four years, if not more,” he said.
“It’s stifling growth."
Water supply issues in Kenmare are now comparable to supply problems in the wider Dublin region along the east coast, the meeting was told.
Cllr Norma Moriarty made the east coast comparison while urging local authority officials to "be courageous" in finding solutions to the supply problems.
Water supply has been an issue in Kenmare for more than 20 years, she said.
The 2,100-plus population increases significantly in the summer months during the peak tourist season but demand for new housing has not been met.
Eight years ago, in 2016, when plans for the €4.5m water treatment plant were unveiled, Irish Water told the : “Long-term availability of water for the Kenmare area remains an issue."
The utility company said it would be pursuing “sustainable longer-term sources” nine years ago.
- This article was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
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