A LOCAL
authority has moved a step closer to identifying a suitable location and route
for vital new wasterwater and drainage infrastructure in the northern part of
the Greater Dublin Area.
Fingal County
Council has published its first Consultation Report regarding the Greater
Dublin Drainage initiative.
The report is
available at www.greaterdublindrainage.ie and is also on display at Balbriggan,
Baldoyle, Blanchardstown, Garristown, Howth, Malahide, Rush, Skerries, and
Swords libraries.
The council
carried out four weeks of non-statutory public consultation at the start of the
project to ask people for their views on the issues and concerns that should be
taken into account in determining the locations of a new wastewater treatment
works, a new marine outfall, and new drainage pipe network.
The consultation
ended on June 24 and included four open days held in Swords, Blanchardstown,
and Balbriggan when members of the project team attended to meet people, listen
to their views, and to confirm the need for the new wastewater infrastructure
to facilitate future development in the area.
Peter O’Reilly,
Project Engineer at Fingal County Council, said over 1,000 people made contact
with the project team on a wide range of issues.
These included
environmental impacts, the site selection process, and the need to consider the
community’s concerns during the development of such crucial infrastructure as
the Greater Dublin Drainage initiative.
Mr O’Reilly said
the project team were reviewing all comments received and will take them into
account in the next phase of the project, when a shortlist of potential sites
and routes for the orbital sewer pipes will be identified.
“Fingal County
Council will continue to consult with all interested stakeholders and will
carry out further non-statutory consultation this autumn, when the shortlisted
sites and routes are known,
? he stated.
“Each of the shortlisted sites and routes will be investigated further
before a decision is made next year on the location and route that will form
the basis of a planning application to An Bord Pleanála in approximately two
years’ time.
?
Information on
the Greater Dublin Drainage initiative can be found on the project website
www.GreaterDublinDrainage.ie or you can contact the information phone line on
1890 44 55 67.