This article is from page 14 of the 2006-05-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
CLARE County Council officials are proposing to “de-bundle” the county’s proposed sewerage scheme in an attempt to speed up the much-needed service to some of the county’s villages and towns.
Villages close to the sea that require an off-shore licence for the new sewerage system will still have a long wait, however, as they apply for the foreshore licence and battle with the Department of the Environment over the controversial water pricing policy.
“In hindsight bundling has been a delaying factor for a number of schemes.
“The bundle only moves as fast as its slowest scheme,” explained council engineer Declan O’Regan.
The council official said that under the water pricing policy system, the sewerage scheme in Quilty will cost €16,000 per house, while the cost of the Feakle one will break down the same. Scariff, which is bundled with the two other villages, is estimated to cost €8,000 per house, €2,000 under what the government proposes to pay.
The cost of the Feakle and Quilty schemes include the €1.4 million off-shore work, an inclusion that had been described as ridiculous by west Clare councillor Christy Curtin.
“There is no allowance for the offshore work which is €1.4 million. There should be an allowance for that. There must also be an allowance for rural areas, otherwise it is a false economy,” he said.
It has also emerged that when the houses in the Quilty/Mullagh area were counted to estimate the cost of the scheme under the water pricing policy, 80 were ignored as they had private septic tanks.
A draft value for the water pricing policy in the area has been informally submitted to the Department of the Environment, according to the county council.
The local authority is awaiting comment from Department officials before making a formal submission.
Meanwhile, the council has advised that Cooraclare be de-bundled from the Carrigaholt and Labasheeda scheme when submitting the reviewed report for the scheme to the Department.
“Cooraclare is most economical of the three. If it has to wait for the off-shore licences it could be three or four years before they have a scheme,” said Mr O’Regan.
Mayor Pat Keane said he is disappointed for Labasheeda and Carrigaholt as he feels they will now be left behind.
“I don’t think it will benefit Cooraclare either, as it will be difficult to get someone in to do a small scheme,” he said.