On Tuesday this week, Irish Water published its plan for a water supply project for the eastern and midlands region. The plan involves 170km of transfer pipelines, crossing the country in a way that can deliver, at selected locations, resilient supplies of treated water to communities along the route from the southern part of the Shannon in Co Tipperary, right across to southwest Dublin. There will be a 50m width corridor for construction and a permanent 20m corridor under which the pipe will lie.

According to Irish Water, the plan represents the “first major upgrade to Ireland’s infrastructure in over 60 years” and aims to meet the water needs of the east midland region (over 40% of Ireland’s population) until 2050.

Irish Water opened a public consultation on the plan on 8 November, which will continue for 14 weeks, feedback from which will be included as part of the preparation of the design, the environmental impact statement and the planning application, which will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála towards the end of 2017.

Effect on farmers

IFA environment and rural affairs chair Thomas Cooney has described the proposal as “one of the most intrusive infrastructure developments to be imposed on landowners since the development of the motorway roads network over a decade ago.

“Farm families across the length of the project have attended IFA branch meetings and county executives and have rightly highlighted their concerns regarding the scale of the project and the impact it may have on their farm businesses,” he said in a statement.

Speaking later to the Irish Farmers Journal, Cooney said that some 500 landowners will be affected in counties Tipperary, Offaly, Kildare and Dublin, many of whom are farmers.

The IFA is not happy with the answers we’re getting from Irish Water so far

“Farmers want to know how long their farm will be disrupted [for] by this work,” he said. “The working width of the project will be some 50m, which, to put it into perspective, is the width of O’Connell Street in Dublin. The pipe itself will be about 2m, which is the width of a double door.

“Then there is the question of how the pipe will affect farms once it is in the ground,” he continued. “Farmers want to know if it will damage their underground culverts, affect drainage or if they will be able to build anywhere near or around the pipe. This gives rise to issues around devaluation of land and also questions around the ownership of the land.”

Cooney added that although Irish Water has been engaging with the IFA on issues that affect landowners, the farm organisation “is not happy with the answers we’re getting so far”. He encouraged farmers to attend the series of public open days which Irish Water will host and will advertise in local radio and press.

Tipperary dairy farmer

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland on Tuesday morning, Matt Cleary, a dairy farmer from Co Tipperary, said Irish Water’s plan would result in a 200m stretch through his land. “It’s going to be a pipe running down the farm. What if the pipe bursts and floods my farm? Who is going to take responsibility for cleaning the pipe on a regular basis?”

He also expressed concern that the pipe will devalue his land. “It’s entering the main road coming into my farm - you’re not going to be able to build on that - the site value is gone.”

Compensation

Also speaking on Morning Ireland, managing director of Irish Water Gerry Grant said compensation will be available to farmers affected by the pipe plan. “There will be a criteria on these things,” he said. “Ervia [which is developing the project] have well-established practices for agricultural liaison officers engaging directly with farmers.”

Grant said that Irish Water will attempt to negotiate compensation with farmers “by agreement” as far as possible.

It takes a number of years for crop production to come back and farmers will need compensation for the fact there is a permanent pipe under the land

However, if farmers and Irish Water cannot reach agreement over compensation, it will go to property arbitration.

“Arbitration will decide how much farmers will get if there is a dispute, but we will do everything in our power to get agreement before that,” he said.

The managing director acknowledged the effect the proposed work will have on farms: “There will be short-term effects and long-term effects,” he said. “For example, it takes a number of years for crop production to come back and farmers will need compensation for the fact there is a permanent pipe under the land.”

Water Supply Project

The Water Supply Project, as the plan is known, has been in development since the mid-1990s, originally under Dublin City Council as project sponsor, and under Irish Water management since January 2014. Irish Water says that present infrastructure is “struggling to meet current need”, as population and industrial growth will generate a demand for an additional 330m litres of water per day, which Irish Water says is the equivalent of 130 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The proposed development extends from the Parteen basin on the River Shannon, directly south of Lough Derg in Co Tipperary, through Tipperary and the midland counties of Offaly and Kildare, terminating in the vicinity of the Peamount reservoir in south county Dublin.

Farmers who wish to ask a question or make a submission to the public consultation can visit www.watersupplyproject.ie or contact Irish Water on 1890 252 848. You can also send your question or submission by post to Water Supply Project, Merrion House, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is 14 February 2017.

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