Crossbarry plans left in limbo by sewage plant cash shortfall

ZONED lands in Crossbarry which could be developed for housing cannot proceed unless there is an urgent upgrade on the village’s sewage treatment plant.

That’s according to Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF), who raised a motion at a meeting of Bandon Kinsale Municipal District calling on Cork County Council to formulate an agreement with Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water) regarding a €1.3m shortfall for the upgrade of the sewage treatment plant.

She said this needs to be expedited in order to protect public health, environment, and to stave against rising inflation in capital projects.

‘We have zoned land here that cannot be developed and €1.3m is all we need. We should really get this moving in order to protect public health,’ said Cllr Coughlan. ‘The sewage treatment plant should be upgraded and put in place so we can have extra housing in Crossbarry.’

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) seconded her motion and pointed out that they only got a portion of what they needed for this project.

‘People are screaming out for it,’ he said.

Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) also supported the motion. While he welcomed the 75% grant for the upgrade from the Department, he questioned who will fund the remainder.

‘I would suggest that as a Municipal District we should be writing to our own chief executive and that the matter should be raised at the CCMA level as well (County and City Management Association),’ said Cllr Coleman.

‘Even if the funding was put in place in the morning by Cork County Council it doesn’t have the structure of staff in place to manage the construction of such a project. This is a pilot project for what will be a national scheme.’

Cllr Sean O’Donovan (FF) also supported the motions and said that when the Council applied for funding they should have known that they would not receive the full amount and that it was only 75% funding.

Municipal district officer Brian Dunne said he has spoken to the acting country engineer on the issue and was told that they have applied to the Department for the shortfall in funding of €1.3m. ‘We can’t get any more than that, ’ he said.

Cllr Coughlan said she wanted to know the full cost of the project and what has been granted.

‘There is more to this than just cost. We really want momentum behind this project as it’s really important for families in that area. Our own chief executive should also raise it at the CCMA. At the time it was a pilot project and there must be others waiting on similar funding.’