Bandon river destruction - It’s time to check OPW’s free hand

Like many towns, Bandon has suffered devastating flooding. The floods may have been exacerbated by changing weather patterns that bring more concentrated rainfall.

That so much land upstream of the town has been drained for building, intensive farming or forestry means the natural sponge that once spread the impact of heavy rainfall is gone. Natural flood defences were surrendered to development.

That flooding is behind the extensive dredging and bank destruction of the river. These works are on such a

devastating scale that it is very hard to have faith in assurances given by the Office of Public Works OPW and Inland Fisheries Ireland that the river will in time be restored to its earlier abundance. Anyone who has seen how the once-vibrant river has been turned into a soulless canal would be equally sceptical.

This raises many issues not least of which is the accountability of the OPW and our planning process. This river is being butchered because of poor planning decisions many years ago, a situation made worse by the free hand the OPW seems to have to resolve the issue.

That free hand is seen in Cork City too where proposals on quay wall flood protection measures seem unstoppable, despite huge public opposition. In both these cases, the OPW’s response seems defined by narrow interests and an indifference to the destructive consequences of its actions. It’s time the agency learned to work with nature — and people — rather than destroying it.