Connections refused to Ballina treatment plant

Amid claims that a number of connections to the waste treatment plant in Ballina-Killaloe have been refused in recent weeks, a call has been made by local councillor Phyll Bugler to bring forward the start date for works to upgrade the plant, which is currently operating at full capacity to treat the volume of sewage emanating from the two tourist towns.

Following a number of incidents at the plant where raw sewage spilled into the Grange River close to its confluence with the Shannon, and complaints by councillors that development in the two towns was being stalled because of inadequate sewage treatment capacity, Irish Water announced a start date for works to upgrade the plant set for the third quarter of 2022.

But speaking at last Friday’s meeting of Tipperary County Council, Cllr Bugler said the start period for the upgrade works was too long away. She noted that the council had written to the government eight months ago outlining the urgency of the upgrade works, but no reply had been received to that correspondence.

IN DIRE STRAITS

Cllr Bugler said the start period for the works needed to be brought forward and added that the building of a new plant once works started would take one and a half years. She urged the council to write to the Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan and the Minister for Local Government Darragh O’ Brien outlining the urgency of the situation. “We are in dire straits here at the moment.”

Director of Services for the Environment Eamonn Lonergan said the upgrade of the plant was being treated as a priority by the council, which raised the issue at all its meetings with Irish Water. The situation was critical and in recent days the council had spoken to Irish Water about introducing some interim improvements at the plant, pending the planned upgrade works due to start over a year from now.

Denis Holland, Senior Engineer in Water Services, said the council would be meeting with Irish Water at the end of the month, and he wanted to assure Cllr Bugler that the upgrade of the treatment plant would be very high on the agenda. The issue of having some interim improvement works done prior to the upgrade proper would be raised by the council as he had been aware that Irish Water had refused a number of connections to the plant from both Ballina and Killaloe over the last number of weeks.

BALLINA HOUSING

Cllr Bugler also raised a separate issue at the council meeting about the need to upgrade a number of council owned houses on the main street of Ballina. She said there were a number of local authority houses that needed “a tip up” and she called for “a bit of positivity” from the council on the issue. She said the local Tidy Towns group wanted to have the main street looking well.

Cllr Bugler stated that a council tenant liaison officer could play a useful role in Ballina and was told by the Director of Services for Housing, Sinead Carr, that this role was currently vacant and a replacement was due. When a new person was appointed he or she would be put in touch with Cllr Bugler to address any concerns she had.

TOURISM MOVE

On a separate issue, Cllr Bugler was among a number of councillors who put a motion before the council meeting calling on the local authority to to appoint a councillor from each municipal district to the Board of Tipperary Tourism.

Putting the motion forward, Cllr Bugler said she personally had been involved in the tourism sector for 27 years and she felt excluded as a public representative from the main tourism body in Tipperary. She said councillors like her who worked with local people involved in tourism would have a lot to offer to Tipperary Tourism as members of the board. They could represent the view of local tourism providers on the ground and report back to providers about developments in the sector coming down the line.

Pat Slattery, Director of Services for Economic and Community Development, said the council could provide Cllr Bugler with updates on a monthly bases on the work Tipperary Tourism was doing to promote tourism in the county.