Nature-based solutions sought for Hollyford flood defences
There is a requirement for the consultants to hold at least three public engagement meetings at various stages of the scheme, including displays of drawings and maps of the design.
The OPW are seeking contractors to devise nature-based solutions to manage flooding and improve water quality in Hollyford village, in a contract worth an estimated €80,000.
The 18-month contract is to focus on the area upriver of Hollyford, looking at ways that floods can be mitigated as well as any water quality issues that are in the area.
Nature-based solutions are those that rely on working with nature, and do not involved “traditional” flood defence engineering.
Reference to historical floods in the OPW’s documents are scant, and refer to a record of one in August 1997, one in March 1999, and another in January 2006 where four or five houses and businesses flooded after heavy rain.
In 2011 the flood risks in the areas were identified as the school, a thatched roof house, the credit union, community hall, and a possible risk to a timber yard. A 2023 report identified nine residential homes and four commercial buildings at risk of flood in Hollyford.
It is hoped that the project will begin in October, and the consultants will be required to gather both scientific data as well as accounts of flooding from the local authority, or from local residents.
The consultants is also required to engage with the council, with Coillte, and the Department of Agriculture among other bodies throughout the project, as well as identify any and all landowners who might be impacted by the work both now and in the future.
There is a requirement for the consultants to hold at least three public engagement meetings at various stages of the design of the scheme, including displays of drawings and maps of the design.