It’s two weeks now since the Waterways was flooded and there’s a lot of water under the bridge (culvert) since.

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.

I did a bit of research the last few days. I’ve had a lot of conversations with engineers, with residents in around the waterways and even walked (with the landowners) across farmland in the Kerdiffstown area bordering the Waterways development.  Consensus is now building as to what went wrong and it doesn’t appear that it was the Waterways at fault.

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.

A second meeting was held on Wednesday night (2nd December) and the following was agreed –

Thanks, James (086 834 8869)

Quick update, the water is now gone from the Waterways development. A volunteer team led by local engineer Brendan McCauley dug a trench out across the Kerdiffstown road. The problem was that a stream running behind the Waterways site has historically served as a feeder for the canal and an offrun for surface water from the surrounds. Naas Town Council among others sift water into that drain from Monread road and as far away as Lakelands. The culverts which facilitated the final passage into the canal were blocked causing the buildup. Now clear thanks to the lads.

Our committee are meeting tonight and I will post updates as news and information comes through. We will be looking at next steps and what the immediate needs are now of the people affected. Information also on www.sallins.org

About this time last year I was concerned about flooding in Johnstown. Now it’s hit even closer to home. The Waterways estate, which I know well as a local development, and home to some good friends is now submerged.

Council response was slow at best, inadequate at worst and a group of us got together yesterday afternoon, a once it was apparent what was happening, to pull together an impromptu response. We held a meeting this evening attended by affected people, some local representatives and ordinary citizens looking to help out. Results from meeting – committee formed, action list agreed. If anyone wants to get involved or wants further information just contact me on links above.