Westmeath County Council will look into the possibility of acquiring €500,000 made available by the Office of Public Works for short-term flood defence measures.
The news was delivered by Athlone director of services, Barry Kehoe, at Monday’s session of the Athlone Municipal District. Mr Kehoe informed councillors that the funding was availed of in the aftermath of the flooding events of 2009 to undertake works in the Iona Villas area and to purchase defence equipment used on Accomodation Road and The Strand.
Mr Kehoe warned councillors that it may be difficult to identify works to undertake, as the majority of those needed are “major” and will cost in excess of the half a million figure available. He added that the council will evaluate the situation once the flood waters have receded in an attempt to identify minor projects that can be undertaken in isolation from any overall defence strategy decided upon in accordance with the impending CFRAM report.
