Blackpool €20.5m flood defences given Government approval

The Government has approved the €20.5m Blackpool flood relief scheme, prompting some local calls for the scheme to be expedited.

Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers confirmed that under powers given to him by the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, the River Bride (Blackpool) Drainage Scheme is to go ahead, subject to conditions.

The only way in which the decision can now be challenged is by way of a judicial review.

The scheme proposes to install 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.

Describing it as “the moment the people of Blackpool have waited more than a decade for”, Pádraig O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central, welcomed the announcement.

“Anyone who was in Blackpool in June 2012 remembers what the River Bride can do when it turns,” he said.

“Families and businesses have lived with that fear ever since, many unable to even get flood insurance.

“This scheme will finally deliver the flood protection Blackpool needs, with new flood walls, embankments and conveyance improvements along the Bride and its tributaries.”

He added that there could be "no more drift" on delivering the scheme. 

Fine Gael TD Colm Burke said the flood relief scheme, which was prompted by the 2012 flood, had been in development since 2013, and it needed now to be urgently progressed.

“This is extremely important for the Blackpool area, and a large amount of development has not been able to proceed until such time as the scheme can be completed and delivered,” Mr Burke said.

“I think it’s important now that it goes out to public tender at the earliest possible date.” 

An initial plan was submitted to the Office of Public Works (OPW) in 2018, and received ministerial confirmation in 2021.

In June 2021, that decision was challenged by a community group, Save Our Bride Otters, which was granted leave to apply for a judicial review.

In January 2022, the State conceded, and the scheme reverted back to an earlier phase.

A final public consultation period regarding the scheme, which was 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.

Reacting to news of the Government decision to approve the scheme, Chris Moody of Save Our Bride Otters, said he was disappointed but not surprised.

“I think our Government is very slow on the environment,” he said.

“You can put in as many bee hotels as you like, and as many flower beds in the city as you like; when you dig up a river, you are causing huge environmental damage.

“There doesn’t seem to be any change of the plan that was put forward in 2018; you’re talking about covering up the river in Blackpool, and once you put a river underground, that’s it, that section of river is dead.”