Bio Energy Plant
A huge number of objections were received by Kildare county council against the proposed bio-energy complex at Monread / Kerdiffstown. The upshot of this was that the council refused planning permission for the proposed facility. The owner now has five weeks to appeal this decision. Residents or interested parties can also make a submission on the appeal.

NB Whilst the proposed facility is located adjacent to the existing Kerdiffstown dump, however the proposal comes in from a separate party, an M&M Coldstores company.

Existing Kerdiffstown Dump
After almost three years of filing by the EPA the high court granted a temporary injunction against the A1 waste facility at Kerdiffstown on Friday 14th May. This prevents A1 from lodging any further waste into this landfill. A question then arises as to how the estimated 1.5 million tonnes of unprocessed waste in the landfill is to be cleaned up. I have raised this question with the Minister and it is also being pursued by a number of parties including the EPA and the CAN (Clean Air Naas) group (www.can.ie).

Extension to Kerdiffstown Dump
Although the existing dump has now been shut down, at least temporarily, the council simultaneously granted planning permission for the construction of a new dump on an adjoining 26 acre site across the road from the existing plant. The council maintain that each planning proposal is dealt with on its own merits and this application satisfied the various grounds. However this new extension has yet to receive a license from the EPA and that application process will be ongoing through the Summer.

Please see attached map for the location of the above three sites. At any stage residents can continue to report odours to EPA on (01)268 0100 and these will all be logged and referenced in future cases and applications to extend / continue operations.

Good news this week as I have kept onto our Dáil reps and the council officials and got word through Deputy Fitzpatrick’s office that Killeenmore will now be granted a flood relief allocation of 20,000 this year, with work due to start in May.

This is badly needed and we will keep a watching brief to ensure delivery.

Minor Flood Relief & Coastal Protection Programme 2010 - Kildare County Council

• Butterstream, Clane Construction of flood relief structures €356,142
• Ardclough Construction / Replacement of canal & road crossings €306,410
• Confey, Leixlip Upgrade culvert €66,556
• Newtown, Kilcock Construct overflow pipeline €237,912

Total  €967,020

I am disappointed to note that Killeenmore, Sallins is omitted also no mention of Johnstown (although this may have been allocated separately as was discussed in detail at council recently). Much work has recently been completed at Kerdiffstown Sallins to address the culvert issue which caused the Waterways flooding but there may need to be additional measures there in time also.

Killeenmore is in most urgent need of flood relief works and I will be asking why the omission.

Similar claims had also been made in local media at the outset, example here:
02 December 2009  Leinster Leader – http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/Counting-the-cost-of-the.5876640.jp

Thankfully the local debate has moved on in light of technical investigation and informed commentary from residents and engineers, however the prime time remarks represented a setback.

I spoke to Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick about this after the program and he raised the issue in the Oireachtas this week as follows:

Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick: I shall be brief. I shall mention one or two matters in relation to the flooding and move on to more recent events. There was not that much flooding in Kildare, but nonetheless it was very severe. Some of this was caused by the Liffey, as I mentioned earlier, and the way in which it is managed. We need to examine carefully how the Liffey is managed, because while it is flooding in Clane, it then starts to move down to the Strawberry Beds in Dublin, so there is a whole ripple effect.

Perhaps I can ask Mr. Dowling about the Waterways in Sallins. It was flooded very badly, mainly because of blocked drains and outlets. It would not have been flooded at all if proper maintenance had been done before the event. In a recent television comment, the Minister made reference to the Waterways and said the name indicated the development had been built on a flood plain. I have known this area for many years and it was not built on a flood plain, but rather on what was formerly a pitch and putt course, in a strategic location close to the railway station. It got its name from the Grand Canal which runs through the village and the promotional literature when the development was being sold highlighted the canal as a very special amenity, which it is. Comments such as that are very severe on the people now living in those houses, if they want to sell a house in the Waterways since the Minister has indicated it was built on a flood plain. The position needs to be clarified in the public arena about this particular estate. I appeal to the officials and indeed, the Minister, to clearly state that this enormous estate which contains all the infrastructure needed for a proper development, is not built on a flood plain.

Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick: I have one more question for Mr. Dowling, whose answer he may communicate to the committee later. I made a comment earlier about waterways in Sallins. A statement was made by the Minister on television which has the potential to devalue properties in the area substantially and many people are under stress due to this. Most of them are in negative equity at the moment and if his comments stood up, it would be serious for them.

Chairman: I will assist the Deputy. He has raised the matter and the committee will write to the Minister in this regard. We will try to obtain a transcript of the Minister’s comments. I saw the broadcast myself and I remember a certain phrase he used about the name of the estate, but I did not think of the consequences for the estate. We will obtain a transcript and ask the Minister to clarify his comments. We will write to the Minister rather than ask Mr. Dowling.

The full transcript can be seen here.

I spoke to the program makers, on camera, for about thirty minutes, however I did not feature in the eventual program. I did show them around the local landscape and bring them to the site of the culvert etc where they interviewed both myself and Brendan McCauley (who did make the program for about 5 seconds!).

The technical information was not bad however the program gave the impression of a state of inertia. I feel that whilst there were many faults preceding the situation (principally lack of any maintenance on the culverts) there has been progress since which was not reflected. In the immediate aftermath, a number of meetings were held and a dedicated committee was setup to progress the engineering issues with the council. That committee had a meeting with the council before Christmas and I understand all sides viewed it as positive. Since then the council have begun a drainage survey of the surrounding lands and I believe the target is to have an upgraded culvert in place by month end.

So things do appear to be happening, albeit at a slow pace. I do not imagine there will be further public meetings however I expect the committee that was formed arising from the initial meetings will be getting together and furthering their work with the council. As I have further updates, I will post on here.

One remark that was most unhelpful was that from the Minister, John Gormely TD.  He remarked, almost flippantly at the end, that the estate was “built on a flood plain” and what would the residents expect? A casual remark, in my view and an uninformed one at that. I have stated in the past exactly why I believe the Waterways flooded and a flood plain does not come into it. I have raised this with Deputy Fitzpatrick and he is seeking a clarification with the Minister so the correct facts can be put on record from the department.

View Shortcut to Motorway in a larger map

On related note, the Kerdiffstown road is still closed whilst they figure out what to do with the culvert. I know it is causing some inconvenience to the residents along that road, which unfortunately will be the case until is is sorted permanently, however for the casual commuter, there are other options to get out onto the motoray. I have documented one of these above, an alternate route for Sallins motorists, in particular, to get out onto the N7 without needing to go anywhere near Naas or the Monread road etc. Just follow directions above.

A delegation comprised of residents reps and the area councillors has been in talks with the county council about solving the problem longer term. As mentioned in previous post this will involve an upgrade of the drainage infrastructure in particular increased capacity at the two culverts to the rear of Waterways.

Relief efforts are ongoing meanwhile and a number of tradesmen came down to the Waterways on Saturday morning to lend their time and skills to what repairs or maintenance they could help with. Electricians, carpenters and general workers were involved. The houses are really back to square one in most cases, with interiors stripped back to wooden frames and concrete floors. It will be a long road still before everyone is back home again. There is some more activity planned for this Saturday and tradesmen/volunteers are encouraged to leave their details at the bottom of this post (or just mail me on james@jameslawless.ie) with a note on your availability and what you would like to contribute (e.g. electrical work, plumbing, general help out, whatever). Thanks.

A benefit night will be held this Wednesday in Boss Byrnes lounge at 9pm. The night will consist of a table quiz (questions by yours truly:), music and there will be finger food provided. A good Christmas event for all and all sponsorship and support welcome.

Basically a canal feeder stream took water from the Morrell river and others, ran along the back of Monread road, took onboard Naas Town Council surface water, took on N7 motorway spilloff, seemingly took some Naas waters from as far away as Lakelands.

All of this followed a trajectory entering the canal past Sallins school and behind the waterways.

Where the water entered the canal there was a double culvert arrangement, with one drain under the railway line, and another under the Kerdiffstown road. The second of these became blocked last week with the result that this very large volume of water had nowehere else to go but spill over into the surrounding fields and farmland. In addition to the immediate vicinity miles of surrounding farmland lay undrained whilst the flow could not escape.

To tackle this, the road was dug with a temporary relief trench, as per last post and a fine job was done there. To prevent this happening in future this temporary fix must become permanent with a full fledged, adequate capacity four way culvert put in there before they close the road again. The railway culvert should also be checked and probably upgraded.

The question arises how did this happen? Whilst the drainage has been historically present (since the canal was built), unquestionably the strain on these culverts has increased every year, or every decade as more and more infrastructure (such as roads with surface water) and housing has sprung up in the catchment area. Ironically the Waterways itsef was not allowed feed into here as the drain was considered at capacity. It is clear these drains should have been subjected to far greater maintenance than they were (none?) but it is less clear who is responsible. The council probably but also Irish Rail, Waterways Ireland and other agencies are in the mix. A quick annual clean should have been a basic and uncontroversial task but upgrading or replacing such works crossed more lines perhaps why it was put on the long finger.

There has been speculation in recent days that the site was a victim of poor planning and or that inappropriate rezonings were involved. I’m not sure of this. In fact the site seems to have suffered from external factors being flooded by overflowing drains from much further afield. I believe there were some blocked gullies in recent weeks but nowhere near enough to cause the flooding without massive external overload.  The OS map shows flood drops, again however these are confined to one small triangle where the stream turns and which remains to this day farmland. The site itself seems an ideal location for development in many ways, being adjacent to public transport (Sallins Railway Station bang in the middle),  minutes from the motorway and in the heart of commuter belt. As a mixed use development the site also features much commercial activity and has brought welcome local employment.  It is an awful shame the site has not realised its potential and that some key anchor buildings remain unoccupied but fundamentally my view that it remains a good development and I hope to see it succeed as a residential, commercial and leisure hub eventually.

Thanks, James (086 834 8869)