Towns being 'left behind' by water delays

Small towns and villages in county Cork have been “frozen stiff” due to a lack of water and waste water infrastructure, Cork County Council has heard.

In a motion brought before the council on Monday, Independent Cllr Finbarr Harrington slammed Uisce Éireann for the company’s apparent lack of progress on water treatment projects in the county.

He said the delays are stalling crucial housing developments and other schemes which depend on water infrastructure.

Cllr Harrington said: “We’re being told we must zone more land, but the reality is zoned land without waste water treatment or fresh water is no use. It’s the same as having a car outside the door with no petrol or diesel in it – it’ll go nowhere.”

The West Cork councillor highlighted recent reports that plans for a proposed €9 million autism support centre for Dunmanway could be put on hold for more than five years due to delays in upgrading the wastewater treatment plant in the town.

“Anybody that lives with autism or has a child with autism or a sibling must be devastated,” Mr Harrington said.

He added: “Our smaller villages and towns throughout the county are going to be left behind because there’s no plan in place for them.”

Cllr Harrington’s motion also asked the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Uisce Éireann to explore the possibility of allowing developers to construct treatment plants themselves as part of a housing development.

Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Joe Carroll, supported the motion and said he saw no reason as to why Cllr Harrington’s suggestion wouldn’t work.

“There are a lot of villages and towns that we know in Cork county, and probably all over the country, that are frozen stiff because they can’t move forward,” the mayor said.

“Surely if these developers would want to go ahead if they were given the right to do the waste water systems themselves,” he added.

Fermoy Independent Cllr William O’Leary said: “I think, from a Cork perspective, this is the biggest standalone reason as to why development isn’t progressing as fast as we want. We have towns and villages that are stuck in time if you ask me.

“One of the biggest indicators as to how a village or a small town is doing is school numbers, and in a number of these areas, school numbers are falling,” he added.

One such area is Mitchelstown, according to local Fine Gael Cllr Kay Dawson, who said the town is “absolutely crippled” by the lack of water treatment infrastructure.

She said: “It’s at crisis stage. It’s showing already in the schools that we don’t have pupils anymore because we’ve lost a generation because we didn’t build houses. Anything that would alleviate watching our town die, I would be for,” she added.

Responding to the motion, a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said approximately €700 million was invested in upgrading infrastructure in Cork between 2014 and 2024.

“Under Uisce Éireann’s Strategic Funding Plan (SFP) and Capital Investment Plan, the estimated levels of investment in water and wastewater infrastructure that will be required to support the delivery of housing are based on Government targets set under the Housing for All programme.

“In order to reach new targets of 50,000 plus homes per year, additional measures will be required to accelerate infrastructure delivery and additional ringfenced funding of €1.7 billion for housing and growth will be required,” the spokesperson concluded.