Halfway village residents ‘constantly worried’ about flooding, Cork County Council told

Two county councillors in the Carrigaline municipal district have called for the council to investigate road drainage issues at Halfway village in Ballinhassig.

Fine Gael’s Una McCarthy and Independent Ben Dalton O’Sullivan explained that residents are concerned that the pipes under the road are either blocked or inadequate to handle water flow.

Ms McCarthy told The Echo that residents were constantly worried about their properties flooding.

“We had a severe weather event on February 23 that caused flooding in the village. I went out to meet with the residents and they showed me the impact it had outside their properties.

“One man said this is constantly happening. He’s afraid to go away for the weekend in case there’s another serious rainfall because he’s worried that unless there’s sandbags right outside the door, his house will be overwhelmed with water when he comes back.

“I also met a woman who moved into her home eight months ago and she’s been flooded four times since then. She says she never would have moved here had she known.”

The residents are concerned that the pipes are inadequate, Ms McCarthy explained, adding that she asked the area office to look into this and they have identified some areas of the culvert that would benefit from clearance.

“The stream overflows, the culvert gets blocked and the water flows down onto the road, that’s what causes the build-up,” she said.

The councillors were told by senior engineer Catherine Murphy that Cork County Council Flood Projects has undertaken a post flood report following the flood event in February.

She explained: “The flood occurred as a consequence of the stream overflowing at the inlet to the culvert, which runs under the public road. Water crossed the road and entered the Castan Doire housing estate. No properties were reported as flooded but flooding would likely have occurred if sandbags had not been in place at a number of properties.

“It is also understood that pumps were deployed, which provided some reduction in flood levels during the event. The public road was closed for approximately one hour due to the flood event.

“There are some areas of the open stream and an inlet to a culvert which would benefit from some clearance.

“Flood Projects will review further and discuss with our colleagues to identify if funding is available to carry out some clearance works here.”