Thomastown and Inistioge are still waiting for a start date for their flood relief scheme.
In 2018 then Minister ‘Boxer’ Moran pledged €29million to six such projects across Kilkenny with Thomastown set for the largest piece of the pie, or €12.7million, and a further €1.5 for Inistioge.
Cllr Deirdre Cullen said the plans for both spots need to be progressed; “We’re ready to proceed to go into stage one, we just need a date for that and for those people who worry every year for their businesses, for their homes and as well for the safety of motorists, walkers, these general communities, we need a flood relief scheme to keep people safe from adverse weather & flooding and to keep our premises safe and very important for those communities when they’re badly, badly affected when we do get adverse weather”.
A number of years ago, four to five feet of water rose in the areas and Cllr Cullen says the works are badly needed to ensure similar scenes don’t happen again; “When there is bad weather, when there are storms forecast etc you have not only businesses that are scurrying to try and secure and keep their premises safe you also have residential as well, people are living on their wits end every winter, you don’t know what kind of weather you’re going to get, we are finding that more frequently we are getting major weather events and it is absolutely essential if you are approved for a flood relief scheme it means that there’s a serious need for it”.
The issue arose at last evening’s meeting of the Callan Thomastown municipal district where there were calls for Minister Patrick O’Donovan to attend a county council meeting to discuss how best to progress such projects.
Members had heard an update on the Ballyhale scheme which is moving to the second of five stages.
With the development and design phase completed, the first of four options has been selected and Cllr Cullen says that decision brings with it some good news; There’s two things to come out of that, there was a fear in the past in terms of the safety of the famous Ballyhale Shamrocks pitch, so that will be safe, I think what’s very positive as well is that there will be incorporated into the plan a riverside walkway which is very positive”.
It also appears to be on target for a 2023 delivery and Cllr Cullen says it’s hugely positive for those in the area; “It’s great for the community of Ballyhale to see it progressing now into stage two because it has been in the development and design stage for quite a while, but rightly so because we want to get it right of course and it’s hugely positive for them and great for the community to see it progressing now”.
