Colin Duffy, a farmer in Westmeath, has criticised the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Westmeath County Council for their “heavy-handed” approach to cleaning part of the River Boor that runs through his land.

“This has caused a great amount of distress over the years,” Duffy told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“This time, they entered without permission, tracked through three strands of barbed wire and a row of sheep wire, left spoil dumped, broke two electric fences and tracked straight across the ditch on the way to the next field.”

It’s understood that the work was done by the OPW, and overseen by engineers from the county council.

Pictures of the work carried out show fences flattened by track machines and spoil from the river dumped against sheep fencing.

A letter seen by the Irish Farmers Journal from Westmeath County Council to Duffy states: “I wish to confirm that all fencing removed shall be reinstated to current standards and lands damaged will be reinstated also.”

However, part of the farmer’s annoyance is over the level of time it takes for the OPW and county council to repair damage, and the potential impact this could have if a GLAS or other form of inspection were to take place.

Access

The OPW stated that farmer permission is not needed for workers to enter land, saying: “Section 38.1 (a) of the Arterial Drainage Act 1945 grants the commissioners of public works the authority to enter on any land for the purpose of carrying out designated maintenance work.

“The OPW is not compelled to remove or level spoils. Staff employed in drainage maintenance strive to work in agreement with land owners.”

The OPW also confirmed that river cleaning was ongoing across the country, with 155km of large rivers and 971.5km small rivers and tributaries cleaned to date this year.