BY KIERAN O’ MAHONY & MARIAN ROCHE
TÁNAISTE Simon Harris has failed to give any timeframe for either government or Uisce Éireann upgrading the overloaded wastewater treatment plant in Dunmanway, instead saying that there should be ‘developer-led’ schemes allowed in towns or villages.
‘These would be for relatively small schemes whether that is the delivery of a local school, an autism centre for adults or the delivery of a certain number of houses,’ argued the Tánaiste on a recent visit to West Cork.
It is unclear how this would be managed, as Cork County Council does not typically grant planning permission for developments or one-off building without infrastructure upgrades in areas where the wastewater treatment plant is at capacity.
Uisce Éireann does however on occasion make a grant of feasibility, where they will agree to servicing a development, if the developer pays for upgrades to the wastewater system.
Mr Harris was speaking in Skibbereen where he admitted that it was not ‘good enough’ for Uisce Éireann ‘to say they have the money but it will take them too long. There has to be interim solutions and I expect proposals from Uisce Éireann this autumn’.
He continued: ‘I have to be honest with the people of Dunmanway and tell them that these schemes do take a period of time. We’ve said it to Uisce Éireann, which I believe they are open to it in Dunmanway and possibly around the country, that it’s not good enough to tell a community that they will have the scheme completed in a certain amount of years. They have to come up with interim solutions too.’
Uisce Éireann says it is in the process of identifying the best long-term solution, a process which began in 2024 and will continue into 2026. Any work is dependent on funding, as well as several legal stages and it can take years to go through the process.
PLANS DELAYED
In March The Southern Star reported that plans to build a regional autism centre for adults just outside the town, the first of its kind in West Cork, is delayed, as are plans for a new mixed school for the town and always-necessary housing.
The most recent EPA Annual Environmental Report for the Dunmanway Wastewater Treatment plant found it to be non-compliant in relation to ammonia and phosphates, while a complaint was made to the EPA last July for sewage release into the River Bandon. A site visit in the same month found there were ‘significant deficiencies’ at the plant.
In March this year, fly-tipping was suspected to be the cause of fats entering the wastewater treatment plant, the third time this had happened, and in May, more issues where non-domestic waste was entering the plant, particularly from the Quarry Road pump station.
Cork County Council acknowledged the issues with the wastewater treatment plant, which is concerning as the water is discharged into the Bandon River Special Area of Conservation. Referencing ‘environmental concerns’, growth in the town is stifled as new developments that rely on the network are not permitted until the infrastructure is upgraded.
