APPROVAL has been given to Clare County Council by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to submit a planning application for the Kilkee flood relief scheme.
There have been a number of instances of flooding in Kilkee. The Victoria Stream is noted to overflow its banks over a length of 200-300m on an annual basis, causing flooding of Church Street, Well Road and a number of properties with many more properties at risk.
In 2014, winter storms damaged a section of the existing seawall and promenade, a protected structure, and a 45m section was replaced with a terraced structure. In 2018, following the Government’s introduction of Flood Risk Management Plans, Clare County Council with funding from the OPW appointed JBA engineering and environmental consultants to design a flood relief scheme for Kilkee.
New flood defence walls, embankments, box culverts and open channels along the Victoria Stream and Well Stream, combined with a channel diversion and the creation of flood water storage areas along the Victoria Scheme are included in the scheme design for Kilkee. Once the scheme is completed, discussions will commence on the reinstatement of the Well Field Car Park to the community.
Flood relief schemes are implemented in five stages. They are large, complex, multiannual projects that face a variety of issues and challenges relating to ground conditions, timelines for consultations and planning decisions or a limited capacity within the engineering consultancy market. These challenges impact the timeline for flood relief schemes’ delivery, which can take up to ten years to design, develop and construct.
Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Kieran O’Donnell (FG) confirmed on Tuesday that Clare County Council had received the go-ahead from the OPW to lodge a planning application for the flood relief scheme. “I wish to acknowledge the support from the Kilkee community that was valuable to inform the design of a scheme for its town, which will protect the 134 properties including 118 residential and families at risk from flooding”.
He stated, “This is the first of two planned schemes for Kilkee and work is separately continuing on design for a scheme to manage the risk from coastal flooding in the town. Flood Relief Schemes are already in place in Ennis, protecting some 2,000 properties and Sixmilebridge. A €5m flood relief scheme at Springfield is nearing completion and will protect 21 properties. Flood relief schemes are also being progressed for Shannon Town, with planning application expected in the first half of 2025. Clare County Council is preparing tenders to employ technical engineering and environmental services to progress flood relief schemes for Bunratty and Kilrush”.
The cost of constructing the proposed scheme will be met from the Government’s commitment to managing Ireland’s flood risk through the €1.3bn for flood relief measures set out in the National Development Plan. The design of this and all flood relief schemes is future proofed and is adaptable to meet the increasing flood risk from climate change. The Government is investing some €120m to manage the flood risk across Co Clare
In addition to these major schemes, the Office of Public Works has approved €3.8m to Clare County Council under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme for localised flood relief works across 42 other locations in the county.
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) said the works in Kilkee are “badly needed”. He stated, “This is significant news and opens the way for the Council to submit their plans to An Bord Pleanála. I have been liaising with residents and business owners in Kilkee for quite some time on this issue and these flood protection measures are badly needed”.
Deputy Crowe outlined, “With climate change affecting sea levels, it’s important that those living in our coastal communities feel protected. It’s vital that we don’t see a repeat of previous instances where serial objectors from outside the county object to vital infrastructural developments like this. This announcement comes after years of environmental assessments and detailed engineering analysis and I hope the application will be submitted as soon as possible”.
Ex councillor, Cillian Murphy admitted,”I can’t say how pleased I am to see this project get to planning stage. Over my five years as a councillor it’s something that I’ve been extremely heavily involved in, and it’s not something that has magically arrived out of the blue, it has taken a long time, a lot of effort, conversations and discussion with council and OPW staff, and local community members over five years. This is the end of the beginning of this project and a major step in its progress”.
