Flood relief works will just make it worse

A committee made up of residents affected by successive chronic floods in South Galway has predicted there will be worse damage to come in areas which previously escaped – because of minor works carried out by Galway County Council.

And the chairman of the South Galway Flood Relief Committee David Murray has now urged the local authority to meaningfully engage with locals before undertaking any further schemes.

This week the Office of Public Works (OPW) notified Galway County Council that it had given approval for the local authority to start a flood relief scheme for the Gort Lowlands area in South Galway which is dotted with turloughs in a karst limestone environment.

The Council will now begin the process of designing a scheme for the area, which includes gathering all existing data to map the flooding, calculate the potential flood damage and identify possible measures with estimated costs and any potential environment impacts.

Planning and environmental issues will be examined in detail as part of this process.

But, while welcoming this news, residents are highly critical of what had been done in the ten months since the last devastating floods –and they are also deeply unhappy with the level of public consultation.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.