*Photograph: John Mangan
STATUTORY PROCESSES have been blamed by Uisce Éireann in stalling the pace at which it can roll out wastewater improvements across the county and has said its current programme of works in the county is a quarter of a billion euro but works on construction of a new plant in Lahinch will not begin until 2026.
Currently in Clare, 52 towns and villages are without adequate wastewater treatment plants, representing two thirds of all settlements in the county.
On Tuesday, the state-owned water utility company officially marked the opening of a €7m wastewater treatment plant in Liscannor.
Wastewater delivery manager with Uisce Éireann, Michael Tinsley spoke to The Clare Echo on their plans for future investment in Co Clare. “There was five locations in Co Clare with untreated sewage, Clarecastle we completed that earlier in the year, we opened Liscannor today, Kilrush the plant is nearly complete and we’ll be turning that on before the end of the year, in Ballyvaughan the planning application is going in this month and then in Kilkee the planning application is going in for about two months time, all things going well with the planning we would hope to be on site for both of those in 2024”.
Over the next seven years, he estimated in the region of €200m will be spent on wastewater infrastructure in Clare in areas such as Kilfenora, Lahinch, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ennistymon, Miltown Malbay and Doonbeg. “We have a large programme of work across the country and a large programme of work in Clare, on a rough calculation it is about a quarter of a billion euro. The projects are at varying stages, Kilfenora is under construction and is nearly finished, Newmarket-on-Fergus we have the planning application in for that and we hope to go to tender with a view to starting next year.
“Some of the other projects are at an early stage, Ennistymon and Lahinch we hope to have a public information evening on that in 2024 setting out our plans, we’re looking at a new wastewater treatment plant to serve both those towns, it’s two to three years into the seven years to deliver that. Some of the other projects are at an earlier stage, we have a small villages programme, Miltown Malbay and Doonbeg are included in that, in Ennis the largest town in Clare, there are two wastewater treatment plants there, one in Clonroadmore and one in Clareabbey, both of those are in need of further upgrade, we’re at the very early stages of looking at those,” he added.
Michael who has worked with Uisce Éireann, formerly Irish Water since 2014, outlined that they had a job of work when first established to tackle historic underfunding. “When Irish Water got on the pitch in Clare the biggest problem was the Shannon treatment plant because it was on the European Commission’s naughty list, we’ve done two projects, one to stabilise it and one to upgrade it, now Shannon is completely operating fine”.
He continued, “The next five priorities were the five locations, Liscannor, Kilkee, Kilrush, Ballyvaughan and Clarecastle, we’ve two done, one under construction and two more in planning, then we’ve all the rest. There’s 1,157 treatment plants across the country, they all need some level of investment, we’re prioritising the worst ones first, Liscannor was always on the top of our list, nobody wants to have a town or village with untreated sewage, we’re delighted to finish the job in Liscannor and that people are happy with the job because it doesn’t always work that way”.
Lahinch’s reputation as a popular tourism destination will not aid its bid to accelerate plants for new wastewater infrastructure, this despite the fact it was issued with a two day prohibition on swimming last week. “Most coastal places when there is heavy rain, the sewage system overflows but there is other things which cause pollution too like runoff from towns and villages, from agricultural lands, from septic tanks. We’re not denying that the wastewater treatment plant in Lahinch and Ennistymon are coming towards the end of their life, we have a project that is at the preliminary design, we’re looking at options and probably a combined treatment plant between the two towns.
“We’re hoping to bring our plans to the public next year, we’re looking at 2025 for a planning application and 2026 for construction, it’s near the top of the list but it’s two years into a seven year period, we would love to accelerate it but we have statutory processes that we have to get through. It is there and it going to be done, Newmarket-on-Fergus will be done first because it is in the planning process but it is next for Co Clare after that”.
