Hopes for start to Mitchelstown developments

Developments in Mitchelstown that were granted planning permission, but could not start because of lack of wastewater treatment capacity, are currently being reviewed by the council to see if they can go ahead once the interim works at the plant are complete.

A joint statement was issued by Cork County Council and Irish Water, saying that they expect a nominal increased capacity of 800PE once the shortterm works on the plant are finished, meaning circa 800 extra people could be accommodated in new housing in Mitchelstown. They 'hope' to have a contractor on site by June, and the works finished by the end of 2022.

The council are currently looking at developments which had previously been granted planning permission but had conditions attached preventing building from starting until the works had started on the WWT plant.

The council’s ‘first priority’ is to look at these developments and to see if they can go ahead. After this, the council will have an indication of any additional headroom there is for other housing development in the town.

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien welcomed the news, saying that she was ‘adamant’ to get houses built in Mitchelstown. “I’m keeping on top of it, and it’s great to hear now that there’s agreement between Irish Water and the County Council and that they’re in a position to start to review the planning files.”

The council also made reference to industries within Mitchelstown that are not in compliance with their discharges. At least one industry customer is now installing pre-treatment works to make their discharge compliant, and the council are checking there are not other parties on the network that also need work. These improvements could increase the capacity in the wastewater treatment plant even further.

BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE

This very issue that prevails in Mitchelstown was up for discussion in the Dáil last week, as Labour’s Seán Sherlock used the town to exemplify his point that infrastructure failings are behind the lack of housing expansion. In a housing debate, the Cork East TD used the market town to show how ‘theoretically’ there are opportunities on the horizon, but without the basics in place these plans are just pipe-dreams.

“There is a phenomenal demand for housing in Mitchelstown and there is also a capacity to build houses. In spite of the pent-up demand that exists, however, there is a major issue in terms of the ability to provide essential services such as water and wastewater treatment facilities. As we speak, we cannot build houses in the town of Mitchelstown because Irish Water will tell the local authority that the capacity is not there.”

Referencing rezoning policies and aspirations for housing developments in the future, the politician said that it all boils down to basic infrastructure. Without things like a wastewater treatment plant, then housing policy ‘fails’.

“Until such time as the nettle is grasped on that issue, I suspect that towns like Mitchelstown and my native town of Mallow, where there is a strategic housing development application for 299 residential units before An Bord Pleanála, will fail to provide sufficient housing. In the event that the planning permission is granted, I guarantee that Irish Water and the local authority will turn around and say that the planning may have been received but the commencement will not be given until such time as there is capacity to deal with water and infrastructure.”

Mr Sherlock went on to ask the Minister for Housing to ‘ lean into’ Irish Water and get works moving, and that he understood the minister was due to visit the town in the not-too-distant future.