Cork councillor seeks rates waiver for flooded businesses

A Bantry based county councillor has suggested that businesses in the West Cork town be given a waiver from rates for the coming year to support them as they recover from flood damage caused by heavy rainfall during the most recent status orange weather alert.

Speaking at Monday’s council meeting Danny Collins of Independent Ireland, said the proprietors of shops, restaurants and bars in the port town are ‘worn out from it’ having spending the past week cleaning out their premises after flooding caused extensive damage following 63mm of rainfall in a three hour period.

Such was the intensity of the downpours that the culverts in the town were unable to cope with the increased and powerful flow of water, the force of which lifted heavy manhole covers.

“Look the businesses — and it’s they who pay the rates — as well as the residents are worn out from it. It’s the fifth time there’s been a flood since 2020,” said Mr Collins.

“Last Saturday evening there was a status yellow rainfall warning announced for Sunday and this left people living on their wits — thank God that was cancelled yesterday.

“These businesses can’t survive any longer and I’m asking here for some kind of rates waiver. A number of them were closed for the most of last week because they had to carry out repairs, to their floors and panelling,” said Mr Collins.

“They can’t open their doors and if they can’t open their doors, there’s no money going into their tills.”

He described the situation on the day of the flooding, Saturday, October 5, when businesses had to clear out their customers at 1pm as the flood threatened. After the main point of the flood had passed by 4pm, Mr Collins likened the scene to the town having been subject to a ‘bomb alert’.

He warned the council would also have to look at some sort of a waiver when works to repair the culverts was underway, as many businesses would have to close to allow those repairs to be carried out.

The West Cork representative was supported by his colleagues from the electoral area.

County Council CEO Moira Murrell said that a rates waiver could not be put in place for Bantry businesses in the 2025 budget but didn’t rule out the possibility that a scheme could be devised for 2026.