Drainage works begin in Laois town amid winter flooding fears

Laois County Council have announced that they will soon begin flooding maintenance works in Mountmellick, in efforts to combat potential floods this winter. 

Pictured: The shocking floods that hit Mountmellick in 2017, forcing many to evacuate affected areas

Laois County Council's Area Office replied that these works will be starting within the next week.

"Thank you for that, it would be great to get that done for the people around Mountmellick," Cllr Bracken responded.

"I welcome this news, it's badly needed. There's an awful fear of floods around the river, so it would be great to get that done ahead of winter," he said.

Mountmellick was hit with devastating floods in 2017, when flood waters from the Slieve Bloom engulfed properties in parts of the town. The occupants of homes in Manor Court and Manor Grove housing estates were forced to evacuate. Clonaslee and Portarlington were also hit with floods at the time. 

The current Minister for the OPW, Kevin Boxer Moran, committed to defences for all three communities when he was also the OPW Minister when the town flooded.

At an April sitting of the Borris / Mountmellick Municipal District, Cllr Bracken slammed the 'red tape' causing delays to the implementation of flood defence plans.

It's a huge issue going on eight years, we have had consultants on site and altering and changing the plan, while it's having a huge and detrimental effect on Mountmellick," Cllr Bracken said.

"In terms of the expansion of future planning and future housing, we are all aware that it's holding up developments that may come into Mountmellick, such as the N80 bypass. We are waiting eight years for this and it's very disappointing. 

"We all know what happened in 2017, so I would appreciate clarification and the speeding up of the process," he said.

In August, The Leinster Express / Laois Live reported that the cost of the Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme had surpassed €20 million euro.

Independent TD Brian Stanley made the claim about the latest cost escalation of the project surging in the wake of a recent meeting he says he has had with Laois County Council and Office of Public Works (OPW).  

This motion was tabled at the September sitting of Laois County Council's Borris-in-Ossory / Mountmellick Municipal District.