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[Press Release: July 22nd, 2003] Problem of flooding must be tackled in new County Development Plan say GreensThe Green Party has called on Wicklow County Council to tackle the problem of flooding in the new County Development Plan that is currently being drafted. At a recent meeting of Wicklow County Council, Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca, has called on the County Manager to ensure that the Draft County Development Plan identifies flood plains and areas that are vulnerable to flooding in the county, and that development should be prohibited in these areas."Flooding is becoming a very serious and a very real problem and we cannot afford to be complacent about it" says de Burca. "We are experiencing higher levels of rainfall over the past decade and this has been complicated by the huge amount of development that has happened in this country over the past decade. Many former floodplains have been built on and so the traditional drainage systems that we relied on are no longer effective. We must ensure that this trend does not continue. The issue of identifying flood sensitive areas must be addressed in this new County Development Plan" she says. Councillor de Burca has also called upon the County Manager to act upon the recommendations made in the consultant's report produced on the issueof flooding in Arklow. "In the case of Arklow the flloding problem already exists but serious remedial measures must be taken to ensure that areas such as Arklow which has been subject to extreme flooding over the past few years . This must be done without delay". For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org. |