€12.5M flooding remedial scheme for Monaghan

Protection for 47 properties in the Milltown area on the way

- Peter Hughes -

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has plans for a €12.5M scheme, which Monaghan County Council understands will provide protection from flooding for 47 properties in the Milltown area close to Monaghan Town, the members of the Monaghan Municipal District were told at their January meeting last week.

The local authority itself has also set up a working group to address the severe flooding problems, which occur in the centre of Monaghan Town during periods of heavy rainfall, co-ordinator Martin Taylor told the meeting.

An Integrated Catchment Management Plan is being developed for the town, Mr Taylor stated. A preliminary working group meeting on January 7 discussed the final project scope and brief with a view to appointing a hydrologist to review and develop rainwater management measures in the town centre, Coolshannagh and surrounding areas, and develop options to minimise flooding in these locations.

The co-ordinator pointed out that work has now commenced on the rebuilding of the bridge at Tullyherim Lane in the town, which collapsed into the Shambles River during Storm Amy. The blockage caused by the collapse has been removed and it is expected that the bridge reconstruction will be completed in February.

Cllr Seán Conlon (SF) asked for clarification to be obtained on the respective responsibilities of the OPW and the County Council in addressing flooding issues in the Monaghan Town area. He said the local authority needed to protect the resources it had for rebuilding bridges and dredging culverts and should not be left to “carry the can” for remediation plans that could entail a quite extensive financial burden.

The co-ordinator clarified that the OPW is responsible for the Blackwater and Monaghan County Council had responsibility for the maintenance of the Shambles River. Mr Taylor said that the scheme under consideration for the town would require funding, perhaps through climate adaptation grants from the Department of Transport, but they needed to get the project and its costings finalised first before making an application.

The Cathaoirleach, Cllr Seamus Treanor (Ind) proposed that the Municipal District write to Uisce Éireann asking the utility to address the need for Milltown and other locations close to Monaghan Town to be connected to the main wastewater disposal system.

Cllr Treanor said residents of the Scotstown Road area had been promised a sewerage connection in 1958 and are still waiting. There were similar needs for connections in the Clones Road and Cornacassa areas.

He added that the residents of the Milltown area had performed great work in preparing plans for a sewerage scheme only for their funding application to be turned down at Department level. “The Milltown residents did everything right,” he stated.

At Rafeenan in Ballinode, flooding sometimes led to the overflow of septic tanks into the Blackwater which flowed on to Lough Neagh.