OPW accused of ‘vandalism’ in Terryland River works

The Office of Public Works has been accused of devastating the Terryland River in Galway City instead of cleaning it up, with local environmentalists furious that the habitats of wildlife along the banks have been destroyed in what has been labelled ‘environmental vandalism’.

 The Terryland Forest Park Steering Committee has written to the OPW, calling on it to stop all maintenance work until an environmental impact assessment can be done.

The OPW has been carrying out work for a number of weeks on the river which had become vastly overgrown. The Sandy River – or Terryland River as it is better known locally – had almost disappeared under a dense growth of vegetation.

The effect on aquatic wildlife was devastating, with swans unable to navigate through the narrowed channels and large fish deprived of entry to the river’s upper reaches.

The work was also aimed at deterring the spread of the invasive species known as Japanese Knotweed.

However, Tom Cuffe of Birdwatch Galway and Brendan Smith, a member of the Terryland Forest Park Steering Committee, have urged the OPW to call an immediate halt to the work.

They insist the digger hired by the OPW is seriously damaging the ecology of the Terryland River and surrounding banks.

“It’s an absolute disaster. I’ve never, ever seen anything like it. It’s the worst case of environmental vandalism in a long time,” fumed Mr Cuffe.

“They’ve ripped up native willows. The area where all the invertebrates had laid eggs has been dug up, the invertebrates feed the birds. It’s also where the 47 species of bird I have documented nested during the Summer. That’s now gone.”

Mr Smith is furious that most of the knotweed that previously covered the banks was gone but it has been pushed into the waterway and was being moved by the currents further along the course of the river, which will cause it to spread at a rapid rate.

“The digger was scooping up quantities of this weed from the waters, but much was being left behind. Rather that controlling this dangerous invasive species, the present OPW works is contributing to its spread. The OPW should remove the Knotweed manually with a team of staff rather than by machine which is doing more harm than good.”

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel