Councillors at war with Uisce Éireann over Mayo project
Cllr Peter Flynn accused Uisce Éireann of 'misleading' the people of Newport.
A Westport councillor has claimed that Uisce Éireann is doing nothing about the Newport Sewerage Scheme and is demanding to know why the water utility "misled" locals for the last decade with promises that the scheme would be upgraded when it has now confirmed that the completion date will be 2030.
At the December meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District, Cllr Peter Flynn stated: “Following last month’s meeting, we had a workshop at which we received a very clear update regarding the Newport Sewerage Scheme, and then we received a report last week from Irish Water, which now calls itself Uisce Éireann, confirming that the expected completion date is 2030 and also that they had just sent off the application for the foreshore licence of 2022 and confirmed it will take at least three years to get that licence.
“This is the first time we have had written confirmation that Uisce Éireann are doing nothing over the Newport scheme. It really is beyond belief this has been allowed go on for over ten years. They have been telling us all the time it was being done and at no time told us it was put on hold.
“We can huff and puff here all we want but unfortunately we have no jurisdiction, so I formally propose we send that report to the five newly-elected TDs in Mayo and demand to know why Uisce Éireann have misled the people of Newport and us over the last 10 to 12 years.”
Cllr Flynn’s proposal was seconded by Cllr Brendan Mulroy and agreed by members.
In a lengthy statement issued after the meeting, Uisce Éireann said it had "inherited 44 (later increased to 50) areas where raw sewage was discharging untreated into the environment". Three of these were in Mayo - Belmullet, Killala and Newport.
The firm said it was making every effort to advance the Newport project and a recent submission to the Environmental Protection Agency put this project completion date at 2030, "with significant caveats around the time it may take to receive the statutory consents required". Estimated completion dates for this or any project will be impacted by planning delays, legal challenges, land negotiations, or licencing delays including an application to MARA for a Marine Area Consent (MAC) which will be required for the operation of the permanent outfall from the proposed Newport Wastewater Treatment Plant.
