UPDATE: Mountmellick flood defence plans five years on
It is five years this month since Mountmellick suffered a castastrophic flood, as multiple rivers overflowed following heavy rains.
This week, Laois County Council has revealed the latest on the planned multi million flood protection scheme for Mountmellick.
Simon Walton is Director of Services.
“Information gathering and design work is ongoing for Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme.”
He said that county councillors will be given a briefing privately in mid November, with a public update to follow afterwards.
Mountmellick Flood Relief Scheme began in October 2019 with a contract signed between the council and experts JBA Consulting JB Barry and Partners. It was identified as being in the top 50 priority flood schemes by the Office of Public Works.
In April and May 2021 the public were asked to choose out of three possible options put on public display.
These included installing flood defence walls along the Owenass River, and building mounds of earth embankments beside rivers near vulnerable homes and businesses in the town.
The company stated in 2021 that construction would start in mid 2023 and be complete by 2025.
It was estimated to cost at least €3.3 million, to be funded by the OPW. No further updates were given since then.
This week Mountmellick homeowner Cheryl Keenan told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that she is living in fear of a repeat flood, after her home on Manor Road was destroyed in 2017. Her husband Donal died months later, with his widow saying he never recovered from the stress of the flood.
Read that full interview below.
Mr Walton has responded to Ms Keenan's concerns.
“I fully acknowledge the stress that floods or the threat of floods can give rise to and, of course, my sympathies go to Ms. Keenan on her awful loss,” he said.
He went on to list recent works to protect Mountmellick and the wider county against flooding.
“Laois County Council monitored water levels, in Mountmellick and County Laois, all through last week and last weekend. Based on that, we decided that no public notices, over and above those provided by Met Eireann etc, were required, as water levels did not warrant it.
“Following on from the above, interim drainage maintenance works, undertaken in and around Mountmellick over the past three years, have served the Mountmellick well. That said, we continue to design the Flood Relief Scheme which, it is acknowledged, is required to protect Mountmellick for extreme rainfall/flood events.
“Separate to river flooding, our Roads and Fire Service Crews attended a number of localised flood events last weekend and provided assistances where at all possible.
“Aside from sandbags, which we had available to be deployed at short notice last weekend, we have made individual property flood barriers available in Mountmellick, at significantly reduced cost. That is another option for homeowners to consider pending delivery of the scheme,” Mr Walton said.