This page provides a current update for the project to resolve the flooding on River Road, Allenwood South.
STATUS: ONGOING
SUMMARY: Kildare County Council initially denied ownership of the adjacent stream but this was proven to be incorrect. The stream will be cleaned next spring. A potential contributor to the flooding has been discovered downstream.
TIMELINE
May 2019
A resident of River Road reports to Brendan Wyse that the road is being flooded at times, due to the adjacent stream overflowing. Residents across the R414 from River Road, living beside the same stream, state that their lands are flooding also.
6th September 2019
At the September meeting of Clane Maynooth Municipal District, Cllr. Wyse asks the council to clean the stream running alongside River Road and to assess it for restrictions.
The council report states that the stream is not part of a drainage district and therefore it was not the responsibility of Kildare County Council.
4th October 2019
Cllr. Wyse examines the drainage districts map on the OPW website and finds that the stream in question is in fact part of the Rathangan Drainage District.
At the October meeting of Clane Maynooth Municipal District, he requests that the minutes of the September are amended to reflect that the information given at that meeting was incorrect. The council commit to checking the maps and reporting back at the November meeting.
See Responsibility for River Road Stream Corrected.
6th October 2019
Following a tip-off from a Ballyteague landowner concerned over flooding on his land, Cllr. Wyse discovers that Bord na Móna have a drainage facility in operation in Lodge Bog that is pumping water into the River Road stream, downstream from the road itself, but before the stream enters the River Slate.
Cllr. Wyse visits the drainage installation and finds large volumes of water being pumped out of a bog hole. See Lodge Bog Drainage System
14th October 2019
A Freedom of Information request is sent by Cllr. Wyse to Bord na Móna requesting the following details in relation to the drainage system at Lodge Bog.
- A technical overview describing the function of the station and the related bog holes and how the system works
- Copies of any design documents, drawings or maps relating to the installation
- Specifications of the pumps used at the pumping station
- Electrical schematics of the control panel at the pumping station
- Copies of any maintenance documentation including technical overviews, training manuals, troubleshooting guides, periodic maintenance checks
- Copies of any checksheets or logs relating to the monitoring of the operation of the station
- Any records relating to upgrades or replacements of equipment at the installation
17th October 2019
Following a query by Cllr. Brendan Wyse, Kildare County Council confirm that no planning permission exists for an installation at this location on Lodge Bog.
1st November 2019
At the November meeting of the Clane Maynooth Municipal District, the council state that the maps were checked and that the stream was the responsibility of the council and it would be added to the future cleaning programme. The minutes of the September MD meeting were again amended to reflect this.
A further report was received from the Environment and Water Services Department informing the members that mapping had been crosschecked and Councillor Wyse was correct. The stream did form part of a drainage district. Therefore, the drain adjacent to the River Road could be added to the drainage maintenance programme for next summer, subject to the usual environmental and health and safety constraints.
At the same meeting, Cllr. Wyse raises the question of when the River Slate, downstream from the River Road stream was last cleaned in Ballyteague and Cloncumber. It was reported that the main channel of the River Slate was cleaned between Derrymullen, Allenwood and Rathangan in 2018.
4th November 2019
An AIE Regulations Request is made by Cllr. Wyse to Bord na Móna in relation to surface water monitoring data carried out at the Lodge Bog drainage system.
2nd December 2019
A response to the AIE Regulations request is received by Cllr. Wyse. It indicates that some monitoring is done at the system periodically.
