10 to one in favour of flood plan for Cork city village

The number of submissions in support of Blackpool’s long-awaited €20.5m flood relief scheme outnumber those opposed by 10 to one.

“It’s time for a decision to be made — this has had a major negative effect on the village,” said local businessman Jer Buckley, who lost his Centra franchise over the constant flooding and the damage it caused to the shop.

“There are 10 times more people in support of the scheme than there are against it — it’s a critical time for Blackpool.”

A final public consultation period regarding the scheme, held between September and October last year, saw more than 1,000 submissions received by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in support of the project, and 95 opposed.

The submissions are now being assessed by public expenditure minister Jack Chambers.

CULVERT

The scheme, in its current format, proposes installing a culvert spanning a 350m stretch of the River Bride to mitigate flooding impacts in Blackpool village.

The project has an estimated budget of €20.5m and will see up to 290 residential and commercial properties protected from flooding in the Blackpool area.

The call for this relief scheme first came in 2013, following the 2012 flooding, when dozens of homes and businesses in the village were impacted.

While an initial plan was submitted to the OPW in 2018, and received ministerial confirmation in 2021, it was later subject to a judicial review, in which the department conceded, and the project reverted to an earlier phase.

Speaking to The Echo, local businessman Jer Buckley, who owns commercial property in Blackpool, said the delays have caused “a huge amount of division in the community”.

“We’re at the final hurdle now,” said Mr Buckley. 

“There’s a lot of dereliction in Blackpool, and a lack of investment. I lost my Centra franchise over the constant flooding. There comes a time where you can’t keep pumping money in if a river keeps coming in your door, and people just aren’t safe.”

“We’re talking about three to four feet of water inside people’s homes and businesses.We simply need the scheme to go ahead. This has caused a huge amount of division in the community, but Blackpool holds its breath as we await a decision.”

Chris Moody, chairperson of the Save Our Bride Otters group, believes there is a solution to suit everyone. “Our group’s mindset hasn’t changed: We want to protect that river no matter what,” said Mr Moody, “but 350m is a very heavy solution ... that’s three football pitches, it kills the river.

“There are otters, kingfishers, brown trout, and other wildlife in there. We have to protect the environment as well as people. If we keep going with ‘people come first’, in 40 years there won’t be any wildlife, particularly in urban areas.”