Town Mayor, Cllr. Frankie Keena, has received representations from residents of Wolfe Tone Terrace on the banks of the River Shannon to reduce the height of the existing concrete flood defence wall and replace with toughened glass. The Fianna Fáil Councillor was speaking at the monthly meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District.
“While it is most certainly great to see this flood defence wall in place, I have received a number of representations from residents who would like to strike a balance with regard to protecting their properties and maintaining a view of the river, hence the request for toughened glass,” Cllr. Keena commented.
Suggesting the need to speak with the OPW in this regard, the Town Mayor noted that this was not the first occasion on which such a suggestion was made.
Cllr. John Dolan stated that the height of the relevant defence wall replicated the layers of sandbags usually required in the location in previous times of excessive flooding and offered his full support to the Town Mayor’s motion.
In response, Director of Services, Barry Kehoe noted that the local authority were the “first point of contact” with regard to potential changes in flood defence wall structures as the construction of same was within the Council’s remit with the OPW providing the relevant support.
“These houses are particularly low and in constructing the defence wall to their exterior we had to take into account the bad flooding which occurred in 2009 and 2015. We also had to factor in climate change conditions.
“The flood defence wall does appear high as it is fully exposed at present, but the road will be built up to a higher level in due time. There are various mechanisms for making the requested changes to the defence wall in this location but we will let the construction settle and revisit soon.
“Additionally, there will be no issue with costs if a change is required,” Mr. Kehoe reiterated.
