County Council accused of ‘stuffing’ people of Rosslare

OFFICIALS at Wexford County Council (WCC) have been accused of “stuffing” people in Rosslare Stand by changing the capacity of wastewater treatment facilities in the village without notifying the public. Last month, in the February meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD), Councillor Ger Carthy revealed that a local family who wished to move back to Rosslare after some time abroad had been refused planning permission for a one-off house due to a lack of wastewater capacity.

This was in spite of a commitment provided to councillors in February of last year that all one-off builds in the Strand would be granted planning subject to meeting the conditions laid out by WCC and Uisce Éireann.

March’s meeting provided Cllr Carthy and colleagues with the opportunity to ask why planning was now being refused in the village.

“There was a commitment given here on the public record to the granting of individual houses in Rosslare Strand, subject to them meeting planning criteria and receiving a consent letter from Uisce Éireann (UE),” began Cllr Carthy. “The senior engineer came into this meeting last year and gave a commitment, this is where the mess, and the messing starts, the discharge license is the responsibility of WCC and the plant is in the charge of UE..

“Now, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m not putting up with people coming into this chamber and stuffing me, and stuffing the people I represent. I have people who are looking to move back here and they’re looking for planning for a house, and all they’re getting is misinformation, nonsense.”

At this juncture, planning officer Sonia McLoughlin read out a statement she had been given by her superiors prior to the meeting.

“In 2023 meetings were held with planning, UE, and water services to determine the future development possibilities of Rosslare Strand,” the statement read. “Following the meeting . . . it was agreed that some small-scale developments would proceed. However, shortly after, the capacity of system was reduced from 7,500 units to 6,000. The planning authorities decided that the wastewater treatment system was at an amber status and was not consistent with the requirement of the Environmental Planning Agency (EPA) wastewater treatment system.

“Therefore, the local authority must complete a combined approach assessment for planning applications. Until this assessment is carried out permissions should not be granted. The planning authority, as a result of these serious concerns, and concerns for the possible pollution of a blue flag beach, has refused planning permission for individual houses, this is the approach that An Bord Pleanála (ABP) has also taken to date in determining appeals.

“At a recent meeting of senior management of WCC it was agreed that in accordance with regulations the planning authority would carry out a combined approach assessment. The environment section will take the lead on that. Until this assessment is completed, any development which may increase demand on the system may be premature.”

The statement also included details of an 18-house development which had been approved for planning in February 2023 but prior to the changes to the system.

“Who reduced the capacity?” asked Cllr Carthy. “How many houses, of the 18, have been constructed and are in the system? You are asleep at the wheel; UE is the competent authority for wastewater, and someone in this building didn’t transfer the discharge. So now the council own the discharge, UE own the plant, UE won’t spend any money to expand the plant, and the people who want to live in their local community lose out. “

Keen to ensure Ms McLoughlin didn’t bear the brunt of their anger, Cllr Carthy noted that she had been effectively “sent out to take the heat” and that he wanted a special meeting with the senior executives in the coming days.

“I’ve been told lies,” he said, “you were giving permission for single houses, someone moved the goalposts, what senior official in WCC requested that? I want that person to come into the next meeting and explain themselves.”

The outcry continued in the chamber with Cllr Lisa McDonald aghast at the details contained within the statement and confused as to how the council intended to rectify the situation.

“I’m actually shocked at the content of that statement, I have been at pre-planning meetings over the last few months and have been given a completely different story. It’s misleading. How are we going to resolve this?”

A resolution, of sorts, came from environmental engineer Gerry Forde. He explained that a ‘combined approach assessment’ was required to test the water quality in Rosslare Strand.

“We will be taking the lead on it, at the moment we already carry out a number of assessments on the beach to check the water quality,” he said. “This will be extended to look at the impact of the water in Rosslare Strand, we test the water at the blue flag beach every summer anyway. There are a couple of other bathing areas in Rosslare Strand that are not blue flag status, we will include those in our monitoring programme.

“The peak time for testing is May to September so it will take place during that time.”

However, Cllr McDonald still required some answers.

“When was the reduction made by UE?” she asked. “When was the amber status announced? Amber status on what? We’re not fools, I don’t like to be treated like one, I’d like it explained in plain English.”

“They’re spoofing,” added Cllr Carthy who then asked whether the family he had been liaising with should continue with their application.

“My understanding is that’s still a live application, it’s still with ABP,” replied director of services Lynda Lacey.