COUNTY councillors will no longer be able to overturn expert advice and grant planning permission in areas at risk of flooding.New planning guidelines due to be published soon will force councillors to adhere to national policy when granting permission.This will, in effect, strip them of the power to compel county managements to allow areas at risk of flooding to be built on.This is sure to anger councillors, who are already claiming their powers are being eroded. Elected members can currently invoke a section 140, which orders the county or city manager to grant permission for particular developments, even against best advice.But the new laws will mean they will no longer be able to legally do so.Last month, Environment Minister John Gormley said that, under the new guidelines,...
PERMISSION for 46 houses in an extension to Athlone's Shamrock Lodge Hotel has been refused because of flooding concerns.Despite an An Bord Pleanala inspector noting that a "large portion" of the site at Ballaugh, Athlone, Co Westmeath, was subject to flooding, permission for the scheme was originally granted by the local council.Owner Paddy McCaul sought permission to build a gym, aerobics suite, swimming pool, health and beauty centre, creche, coffee shop and 142 apartments close to the hotel.His consultants said the site was over 500 metres from the River Shannon and raising of ground levels to avoid flooding would have no effect on adjoining properties.The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board expressed concern while residents said the area flooded every year and three hectares of...
A JUNIOR minister who is backing a retail giant's proposal to build a supermarket on a floodplain is facing strong opposition from his brother.Laois-Offaly Fianna Fail TD John Moloney publicly supports Tesco's bid to locate a store on a four-acre site prone to flooding in Portarlington, Co Laois. He says developers would eliminate flood risks and rejuvenate the town centre.However, his younger brother, Laois county councillor Michael Moloney, "totally opposes" the deputy's stance."I disagree with him saying he thinks the flooding issue can be rectified. The experts say you can't just relocate flood plains. The silt has built up over hundreds of years and it holds the water. To do away with them is going to be catastrophic for people in towns like Carlow, Athy and further down," he...
Plans by environment minister John Gormley to restrict major developments on flood plains are under threat because there are no officially designated flood plains anywhere in the country.Following recent floods throughout the country, Gormley said he would introduce new planning regulations which "essentially mean the end of any major construction on flood plains."However, Tom Sherlock, an engineer with the Office of Public Works, said last week that while the OPW was working on predictive flood maps which would identify precise flood plains throughout the country, these would not be completed for another five or six years.The first such official flood plain map covering the River Lee catchment area will be ready early next year. It will be followed later by similar flood predictive maps...
A RETURN to one-off housing in rural areas could solve urban flooding, according to Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins.Record torrential rain this month, which caused flooding problems in many parts of the country, should provide for a re-examination of planning policies that limit one-off housing, Mr Higgins said.The Department of the Environment's Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines made it more difficult for potential homeowners to get planning permission to build one-off housing in rural areas, according to Mr Higgins.He said that earlier this year, Minister for the Environment John Gormley published draft planning guidelines which would force developers and local authorities to build homes close to shops and schools.Mr Higgins said it is often impossible for people in rural areas to obtain...
PEOPLE living in one of the worst affected areas of the Newcastle West floods are calling on Limerick County Council to review a decision to grant planning permission for a leading housing development for lands that were flooded.A private developer was given permission to develop on the lands at Dromindeel.A number of objectors unsuccessfully appealed the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanála.Despite a recommendation from their own senior planning inspector that the development should be refused permission, An Bord Pleanála gave it the go-ahead.The inspector, Brendan Wyse, in his report to An Bord Pleanála in June 2007 set out four reasons why it should be refused planning.He stated: “Having regard to the submissions made in connection with the application and the appeal, the...
New developments will be allowed in areas at risk of flooding only in exceptional circumstances, under strict new government guidelines.The planning guidelines will not place an outright ban on building on flood plains, but will mean that new developments will only get approval with strong justification.The move came as Environment Minister John Gormley donned a pair of wellies to visit Carlow town, where flooding has left residents angry over the decade-long delay to works to prevent flooding.The minister last night vowed to fast-track a €30m flood-relief scheme in Carlow as a massive clean-up operation continued. Mr Gormley promised the tightening of government spending would not affect the project.The Carlow flood-relief scheme has been designed and approved and is awaiting to go out...
LOCAL AUTHORITIES must stop rezoning land for housing on flood plains to avoid future flooding disasters, NUI Maynooth climatologist Prof John Sweeney has said.Climate research indicated that extreme weather events, such as the heavy rainfalls which have caused flooding in recent days, were likely to become more common, Prof Sweeney said, and better planning was needed to avoid severe flooding.The equivalent of a month's rain fell in parts of Dublin and other east coast areas on Saturday, resulting in flash flooding and travel chaos. More rain is expected in the coming days, with a risk of further flooding in already waterlogged areas, according to Met Éireanns.Flood plains are areas beside rivers and streams which are covered in fine alluvial sediment which is laid down over years as a...
PARTS of the south west including Limerick city could soon be at risk of severe flooding unless radical proposals to counteract the effects of climate change are introduced soon. While a predicted rise in winter storms is expected to leave previously unaffected areas of the country prone to flooding, some experts say methods currently used to counteract the problem, particularly the construction of flood barriers, are costly, outmoded and ineffective. And it has been claimed that politicians lack the political will to take the unpopular decisions necessary to avoid the growing threat of widespread seasonal flooding.A recent Met Eireann report on global warming predicts an "an elevated risk of flooding", particularly in the southwest of the country.According to Ian Lumley, heritage officer...
FLOOD relief plans are set to be fast-tracked in some of Ireland's most vulnerable river valleys, but heavy rain is expected to swamp more areas in the coming days.The Department of Environment, the Office of Public Works and the Department of Finance are to examine ways of accelerating flood projects as Ireland's clean-up bill for the nationwide series of floods last week continues to spiral.In Cork alone, the clean-up and damages bills for the floods are put at an estimated €10m, and that is unlikely to be the final bill as a storm may yet sweep across the country later this week."The weather will stay in a very unsettled mode, there's no sign of a let-up really," a Met Eireann forecaster said yesterday. "The southern half of England I expect to be flooded out tomorrow morning but the...
FLOODS and storm damage must serve as an urgent wake-up call to Ireland that adaptation is required if we are to cope with the worsening impact of global climate change.Environment Minister John Gormley warned last night that national flood relief programmes must be fast tracked if Ireland is to ensure that vital national infrastructure is able to cope with the escalating impact of climate change.A massive clean-up operation began in Fermoy yesterday as residents, insurers and local authorities faced into a damages bill which could run to tens of millions.Mr Gormley warned that, if climate change predictions are correct, Ireland may have to cope with much more severe storms and flooding in the coming years."This is very important because I think people have to realise that climate change...