Only two of Cork’s eight major flood relief schemes are at the implementation or construction phase with four still in the planning stage, almost three years after Storm Babet devastated parts of the county.
Major schemes to provide flood protection for cities, towns and villages are led and co-ordinated by the Office of Public Works (OPW), usually in association with the relevant local authority.
The OPW’s national flood information portal, floodinfo.ie, lists the eight major flood relief schemes planned for Cork city and county. The two projects currently at Stage 4 of the OPW’s 5-stage process, the Implementation/Construction phase, are on the Glashaboy River in Glanmire and at Morrison’s Island in Cork city.
Four schemes are at Stage 2, the Planning Process/Public Exhibition/Confirmation stage, including Midleton, which was devastated by the torrential rainfall brought by Babet in October 2023. The other schemes in this stage are at Ballinhassig, the Bride River in Blackpool and on the Lower Lee in the city.
The planning process stage is where local authorities submit a scheme to An Coimisiún Pleanála and public exhibition commences when all scheme documents are ready and are then displayed to the public for four weeks.
After that, the scheme is submitted to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for confirmation.
Flood relief schemes at Ballymakeera/Ballyvourney and Bantry are at Stage 1, Scheme Development and Preliminary Design.
Possible schemes for Carrigaline and Macroom are currently under review to confirm their technical aspects and viability, and subject to outcomes, would then progress to outline design and planning.
A Midleton resident told the Irish Independent that Cork County Council has said it is currently preparing the planning paperwork to submit to An Coimisiún Pleanála for the East Cork town’s major flood relief scheme.
The resident said they were initially informed that the planning application would be submitted by the end of September but “we were told yesterday this is now delayed until the end of the year.”
The €56m Midleton scheme has an expected completion date of 2032. “The scheme was first discussed as being required as far back as 2010/2012,” the resident said.
Cork County Council is also progressing or has completed a number of minor flood relief schemes around the county, including the supply of household flood barriers in areas prone to flooding.
In its recently-published annual review, the Climate Change Advisory Council said it is “very concerned by protracted delays in the execution of flood relief schemes.”
The report said that eight years after being prioritised for development, 30 of the country’s 54 major flood relief schemes identified through the 2018 national flood risk assessment remain at the preliminary design stage, and it noted that schemes take on average 11 years to complete.
It identified the key sources of delay as the complex planning and legal process linked to public objections, judicial review processes and environmental requirements; the high volume of schemes; and capacity shortages within the OPW, local authorities and the wider market.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
