Weather grating on some councillors

Drainage grates on roads should be made bigger in order to cope with heavy rainfall, elected members of Cork County Council have heard.

Following Sunday’s status yellow rain warning which impacted 11 counties including Cork, Labour Councillor Cathal Rasmussen called for consideration to be given to grate sizes going forward.

Speaking at Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council, the Cobh representative said there are a number of places in his local area where drainage pipes are struggling to cope with heavy rainfall, something he feels is due to small grate sizes on culverts. He said: “Every time we have a heavy shower or rain there’s water left on the roads, so that has to be down to capacity and the size of the grates.”

Cllr Rasmussen explained that the issue is worst in hilly areas where rain water can pass over grates and accumulated at the foot of an incline.

“This appears to happen a lot on hilly roads when a heavy shower comes, the water bounces off gullies, goes past the gully and then travels down the hill,” said the councillor.

Fellow Cobh councillor, Sheila O’Callaghan said Cllr Rasmussen’s motion was a timely one considering how much rainfall Cork has seen recently.

She said: “Only yesterday in Ballytrasna in Little Island there was serious flooding there and it’s an ongoing issue and sometimes the way to deal with it is to take the manhole cover off the main shore because the little shores can’t take it.

“We’re always told that it’s leaves or an offending crisp bag that blocks the grid.

“It causes huge issues, particularly in Cobh where you have a town with steep hills – it overruns the first one and floods down to the next one and it all amalgamates below at the bottom of the hill,” added the Fianna Fáil councillor.

In a written response to Cllr Rasmussen’s motion, Cork County Council’s Divisional Manager, Niall Healy, said: “Road gullies are typically provided in standard sizes as prescribed by national guidelines. “These standard sizes are designed to meet the drainage needs in urban and rural locations which are effective.

“In locations where localised flooding or drainage issues persist, improvements to the local drainage network or an increase in the number of gullies may offer a better solution,” said Mr Healy.