July 3rd, 2019
Cork
County Council has said that it does not have sufficient funding to
repair a crumbling weir on Blackwater River in Fermoy, Co Cork.
Speaking during a Joint Committee on Public Petitions hearing on the issue today, the Council’s Niall Healy called on the Government to provide at least half of the funding required for the weir’s restoration.
The
petition to “Save Fermoy Weir” seeks to ensure the save migration
of salmon and other fish species by facilitating a new fish pass
while preserving local amenities including rowing and angling.
The
crumbling state of the weir has reportedly stopped the flow of water
through the fish pass during normal low water conditions, endangering
the livelihood of salmon and lamprey.
Locals
and environmental activists have been calling
on local authorities
to repair the weir since at least a decade ago.
Mr
Healy said that the Council has carried out repair works on the weir
on three occasions, but lacks sufficient resources to provide the
estimated €2.2 million for the full refurbishment of “the
ever-deteriorating weir”.
Mr
Healy continued that the Council
had requested financial aid from “five different” Government
bodies to no avail. It would be impossible, Mr Healy said, to carry
out the works without reliance to national capital.
Only
the Department of Housing has
agreed
to offer a financial contribution to the refurbishment’s
consultation process, he
added.
Labour’s
Seán Sherlock TD, who chaired the
hearing, suggested that
a
part of a new €50 million loan granted
by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to the Councilcould
be spent on Fermoy’s weir.
Responding
to his query, however, Mr Healy said that the loan was not finalised
yet, but confirmed that the Council did not plan on allocating any
portion of it to the weir’s restoration works.
Representing
the Department of Environment, Denis Maher, emphasised that his
organisation had no responsibility to provide funding for local
infrastructure repair works.
Mr
Maher said that,
while
funding the refurbishment of the weir fell out of the Department’s
ambit of responsibility, it was accountable to oversee that a new
fish passage for the weir would comply with the EU’s Habitat
Directive.
Mr
Maher continued that the presence of salmon and lamprey in Blackwater
River – both
protected
under the Directive
– makes the river an environmentally protected zone that
requires
the Department’s ecological oversight.
He reiterated, however, that it was up to the Council to pay for the restoration of the weir. “The Department [of Environment] and the Inland Fisheries (IFI) role is entirely regulatory,” Mr Maher said.
John
Sydenham from the Office of Public Works (OPW) also said that his
organisation did not have a responsibility to restore the weir,
strongly denying accusations that the OPW’s flood relief scheme on
Blackwater river had contributed to the weir’s deterioration.
“The
OPW rejects any allegation that the damage to the weir and the mill
race wall in particular occurred during or as a result of the flood
relief works in Fermoy,” he said.
“I
can confirm that the works which were carried out in constructing the
Fermoy flood relief scheme did not interfere with the weir in Fermoy
in any way,” Mr Sydenham continued.
Sinn
Féin’s
Pat Buckley TD expressed dismay about the meeting, stating
that he was disheartened by the lack of commitment reflected in the
Government
representatives’ speeches.
Fermoy
weir’s worsening condition has sparked fears of collapse, leading
to recent cancellations
of various sports events
and has adversely impacted Fermoy’s rowing and angling clubs.
Warning
about the impact of the cancellation on sports events on Fermoy’s
people, Mr Buckley said that he didn’t feel optimistic after
listening to Government officials’
presentations at the meeting.
“We can be talking about it for 10 years, and quite possibly, it still won’t be done,” he said. Yesterday’s hearing ended with no resolution with chairperson Sherlock announcing the Fermoy’s weir petition as continuing to remain open.
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