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.

The map above shows some the areas affected. The Morrell river flows under the canal and alongside the railway. When it overflows the culverts under railway see it spill over onto nearby fields & houses.

We discussed the root causes which included increased drainage demands from infrastuctural developments ranging from the M7 upgrade to the railway tracks. Some work was done at the time of the motorway upgrade, including upgrading of bridges and some banking of ditches but a lot more is now needed. In a sense the problem is constantly moving downstream as the issues at Johnstown are now manifesting in places like Killeenmór and the neighbouring Turnings townland. The Painestown and Morrell rivers intersect and both join the Liffey eventually.

A comprehensive drainage landscape survey is required and I understand from Deputy Fitzpatrick’s office, that this is underway involving both the Office of Public Works and Kildare County Council. The full course of the Morrell has been walked by officials and a report should be drawn up shortly to see what’s needed.

A report was drawn up some years ago but never implemented, or at least only partially, however I feel the political will is onboard now to make something happen. I will stay close to it and keep the pressure on.

I have been down at the location a few times recently when this has happened and I brought Michael Fitzpatrick TD with me on Saturday morning. We drove around courtesy of a resident in a 4×4 as no normal car could get through the feet of water across the road. I know Councillor Liam Doyle also visited later that day. Anecodotal evidence suggests the situation has worsened since the motorway upgrade as surplus surface water increasingly swells the streams.

There is a small aqueduct by the 14th lock where the Morell goes under the canal and it is just downstream of this that the problem occurs. At the aqueduct there is a sluice gate beside Kileen golf club which appears to be perennially closed. Whilst this does not cause the problem it doesn’t help matters either.

I feel a comprehensive drainage report needs to be compiled for the whole region from Ardclough down to Johnstown. Whilst this straddles at least two electoral areas (Clane and Naas) it needs to be considered in tandem. We have been in touch with both areas about this and I hope to arrange a meeting onsite shortly. Will post here with updates.

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.

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