Flood Relief Schemes Status

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Questions (187)

Robert Troy

Question:

187. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the provision of flood defences for Athlone town. [45356/19]

View answer

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Westmeath County Council (WCC) working in conjunction with the Office of Public Works (OPW) is advancing proposals to deal with the flooding issues in Athlone . WCC is the Contracting Authority and the OPW is funding the costs of the flood relief works for the town in addition to undertaking the construction works using its own direct labour.

Engineering consultants were appointed in April 2017, to identify appropriate flood risk alleviation measures for Athlone. The Options Appraisal Report identified eight discrete cells of flood defence works. These flood cells are each being progressed individually under Part 8 or Part 10 of the Planning and Development Regulations with works being undertaken by the OPW’s own workforce, as a direct managed scheme. The current status of each flood cell is set out in Table 1 below

Table 1:

Flood Cell	Status
FC1 – Deerpark	Part 8 planning granted in September 2018. Works commenced in Q2 2019. Recent works include sheet piling works which are being undertaken in the showgrounds section. Anticipated completion Q4 2021.
FC2 – The Strand	Part 8 planning granted in May, 2018. Construction works commenced in Q2 2019. Ongoing works at Wolfe tone and Burgess park section. Anticipated completion Q3 2021
FC3 – The Quay	Part 8 planning granted September, 2017. Construction works commenced May, 2018 with 95% of the flood wall now complete and flood gate threshold construction works ongoing. Anticipated completion Q4 2020.
FC4 – Brick Island	Part 8 planning granted January, 2018. Construction works commenced in April, 2018 with Priory Park flood wall complete along with associated land drain. Also complete are the Jolly Mariner and Brick Island flood defence wall and gate thresholds. Reinstatement works at Jolly Mariner have commenced. anticipated completion Q2 2020.
FC5 – Marine View	Part 8 planning granted March, 2018. Construction works commenced in Q3 2019 with embankment works at Wansboro field 75% complete; continuation of embankment work is weather dependent. Anticipated completion is Q4 2020.
FC6 – Iona Park	Construction is complete.
FC7 – River Al (Cregan)	Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is currently in hand. Planning approval and subsequent construction commencement dates are dependent on EIA findings.
FC8 – Golden Island	Part 8 planning granted September, 2018. Detailed design is being reviewed prior to the commencement of construction works. It is expected works will commence next year and take 15/16 months to complete.

It is anticipated that all the construction works for the Athlone Flood Alleviation Scheme will be completed in 2022. When completed, the project will provide flood protection to approximately 560 homes.