Browned off over delays to Laois bridge fix
National permission is needed due to protect nature
A Laois public representative is 'browned off' by delays in getting a bridge fixed in the Slieve Bloom Mountains
Permission has to be obtained from Ireland’s planning body to fix a river bridge over the River Barrow in the Slieve Bloom Mountains because of the potential natural impact the work might have.
Laois County Council will have to go to An Board Pleanála with an extensive plan to fix the structure at Rearyvalley which a councillor has said has been deteriorating for years and now needs urgent repairs.
Cllr Seamus McDonald, Fianna Fáll, raised the issue with Laois County Council officials in county hall recently when he sought an update on progress on the bridge.
Edmond Kenny, Engineer District, replied in writing.
“Repairs to the bridge structure and the construction of a fish pass are proposed. Due to the extent of the works proposed and the sensitivities of the river an application to An Bord Pleanala is required. Ecologists have been engaged to prepare a Natura Impact Statement to assess the likely impacts the proposed project will have on the River Barrow Special Area of Conservation.
“The Natura Impact Statement will be complete in December 2023 with an application to An Bord Pleanala in the Spring of 2024,” said the Engineer.
Cllr McDonald was frustrated as he said he had been raising the issue with the council for a decade.
“I’m browned off. One of these days the bridge will be in the river. There is structural damage and it is getting more dangerous weekly…The bridge needs to be fixed for once and for all,” he said.
Cllr McDonald said residents and a farmer rely on the bridge. He said the council should be able to fix the bridge without having to get national permission.
“An Board Pleanála shouldn’t be involved at all,” he said.
Cllr Paddy Bracken backed his party colleague. He hoped the council could process the application to An Bord Pleanála as fast as possible.
The issue was highlighted at a recent meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District.
An Board Pleanála says local authorities are required to make an application to it for any proposed development in their functional area, or on the foreshore, where an appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive is required.
The Habitats Directive aims to protect over a 1,000 species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish invertebrates, plants, and 230 characteristic habitat types.