New consultation begins on Shannon-Dublin water pipeline that will supply Laois
THE Shannon to Dublin pipe project, part of which will run through the the Midlands and that envisages some of the supply serving Portlaoise has entered a new public consultation phase.
Irish Water estimates that 40% more treated water by 2044 will be needed in the Greater Dublin Area and Midlands in order to "address current shortfalls with our supplies and to provide a sustainable and resilient water supply which can support housing and commercial growth".
It points out that The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region (“WSP-EMR”), is an essential project to meet the long-term water supply requirements to 2050 and beyond in a sustainable manner. The project comprises of an abstraction of water from the lower River Shannon at Parteen Basin near the southern tip of Lough Derg, with a new water treatment plant nearby at Birdhill.
Treated water will then be piped 170km to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in County Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area. The project will also facilitate options to reinforce supplies of treated water to communities from Tipperary to Louth including Newport, Borrisokane, Cloughjordan, Mullingar, Carlow, Portlaoise, Navan and Drogheda.
The project has already gone through extensive non-statutory public consultation and there will be a further round of non-statutory public consultation before a Strategic Infrastructure Development Planning Application is submitted to An Bord Pleanála.
This new 13 week consultation period began on Tuesday, December 14 last and will finish on March 14 next.
People can view Irish Water's plan for the pipe project on www.water.ie and at Local Authority Planning Counters.
Irish Water says it will hold Webinars in January and February, details of which will be provided on www.water.ie
Submissions can be emailed to [email protected] or posted to National Water Resources Plan, Irish Water, PO Box 13216, Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Irish Water says all the public's submissions will be reviewed and responded to as part of a post consultation report. The plan will be adopted in 2022.
Following this, a further round of public consultation on the pipe project will take place during 2022.
Irish Water points out that, "The timeline to submit a Planning Application to An Bord Pleanála is subject to the enactment of new Abstraction Legislation."