Lough Funshinagh planning application to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála tomorrow
Attendees at the Lough Funshinagh Meeting.
The planning application for the temporary pumping solution at Lough Funshinagh will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála tomorrow, the OPW Minister has confirmed.
The proposal will involve 2.5 kms of piping bringing excess water from the lake, through the Curraghboy area, to the Cross River. The pipes will be on the surface of the land and the pumping will be controlled to ensure that no issues arise downstream, the minister said.
Initially it had been hoped to submit the application by Roscommon County Council at the end of August, leading to some concern about whether it would be completed before the lake began to rise.
At Áras an Chontae in Roscommon Town, OPW Minister Kieran O’Donnell met with members of the local community and county councillors today for over an hour to give an update about the project. This was his fourth such meeting.
Speaking to the Herald afterwards, the minister said the people of the area “have gone through terribly difficult times” with the flooding. He also thanked the significant number of landowners who have agreed to let their lands be used in the project.
“That is something that the community of Lough Funshinagh is very grateful for,” the minister said.
The “huge collective effort” by the council, OPW, NPWS and other agencies on the project was also praised.
“Today I informed local people here and the councillors that the application will be lodged tomorrow,” he said. “The application will be going up online too so people will be able to view it.
“An Bord Pleanála operates in an independent manner, which we respect, and I don’t want to preempt its deliberations. There is a statutory process which the bord works in. If the application is granted, and God willing it is, we have the process in place to be able to have the temporary solution in place within three weeks.
“We in the OPW are fully supportive and behind this project.” He said that the permanent solution, the overflow pipe, to the lake will hopefully be ready to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála early next year.
“If this is granted permission, the council will then have to go back into the courts to have the injunction lifted to allow the physical works,” he said. “The same team of consultants is now working on the permanent solution and the intention is to submit this early next year.”
