Council update on Portrane erosion strategy

A LOCAL councillor says he was ‘reasonably happy’ with Fingal County Council’s response to his question on coastal erosion in Portrane.

At a recent Local Area Committee meeting Fianna Fail Councillor Adrian Henchy submitted a request for an update on the council’s medium to long-term strategy in addressing the ever-worsening effects of coastal erosion along the coast at Portrane.

Councillor Henchy asked if the local authority could provide a preliminary report on the progress of interdepartmental discussions between relevant stakeholders, as convened by Minister for Housing and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien TD.

In reply, the council said its medium-term strategy is the installation of protective Seabees along the beach to reduce the effects of coastal erosion on the sand dunes and coastline at this location.

Because of erosion that has occurred since the Seabees have been installed, the council’s consultants have recommended moving some of the Seabees and lifting the Seabees which have sunken to improve their effectiveness.

The council said, “the contractor is making significant progress on this and is intending to have the works complete well ahead of the spring tides.”

“I was reasonably happy with the Councils’ response and fully accept they are doing their best to address a complex and very challenging situation,” Councillor Henchy told Northside People.

“The difficulties for Fingal County Council is they don’t have a national strategy/policy to fall back on in addressing this very serious issue once and for all.

“I do know Minister O Brien has established an Interdepartmental expert group which does include FCC to forensically look at the issue of coastal erosion with a view to devising a national strategy on this issue so to be honest the recommendations from this group can’t come soon enough especially for my community of Portrane.”

Councillor Henchy also said that while the installation of the Seabees has helped slow down the rate of erosion, the reality is this measure is only buying “a little time.”

“Climate change with rising sea levels is accelerating the rates of coastal erosion and this is very apparent along the Portrane coastline with homes and businesses inching closer to the sea by the day,” Councillor Henchy continued.

“We now need the Government with the help of Europe to step up with a clear plan that recognises erosion is happening and addresses both erosion and the risk of flooding in a much more proactive way rather than what’s happening currently where we react to an event.  “With our Government taking the lead on this giving clear direction to local authorities communities like my own in Portrane will at least know what the plan is going forward rather than the current situation where you are just hoping the next storm to hit our coastline results in damage to our properties and vital local infrastructure.

“Fingal County Council through the work of the Fingal Coastal Liaison committee have identified what needs to be done to protect the village of Portrane and this work needs to be brought through planning and implemented as a matter of urgency.”