Cork Chamber submission to the National Water Resources Plan - Draft Framework Plan - Irish Water's 25 Year Plan for Our Water Assets - Cork ...

Cork Chamber submission to the National Water Resources
Plan – Draft Framework
Plan
Irish Water’s 25 Year Plan for Our Water Assets

March 1st 2021

Introduction
Introduction
Cork Chamber is the leading business representative organisation in Cork, proactively working to
identify and progress developments that are facilitative of sustainable economic development.
Representing an employer base of close to 1,200 businesses and over 100,000 employees across the
region, Cork Chamber is the largest business representation organisation in the south of Ireland. At
the outset we take this opportunity to strongly urge the continued commitment from Government
to the delivery on the objectives of the Ireland 2040 and the alignment of water infrastructure
planning and capital investment with the role set out for Cork within Ireland 2040. Investment in
water infrastructure must be aligned to the National Planning Framework, and the City regions
identified within.

For our city region to be sustainable we need to manage water and waste. Our city region is defined
by it’s links to both waterways and ocean and it is essential that we enhance and protect our natural
environment and reinforce our infrastructure, creating better places to live, work and play.

The need for investment now and the continued delivery of enabling economic and social
infrastructure, that addresses national imbalances and years of underinvestment, which supports a
shift in our national carbon profile to dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, will define our
collective futures and those of future generations. The National Water Resources Plan has a key role
in Ireland 2040 and must be met with accelerated delivery of capital projects. We must take this
opportunity to embed the strong foundations for a future that aligns seamlessly with the sustainable
development goals.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
This submission has been guided by our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Five
specific goals have been identified which we actively advocate for throughout our work;

This commitment is supplemented and further developed through our Sustainable Cork Programme
(SCP) which focusses on the sustainable and resilient recovery of the Irish economy and society of the
short to medium term, but also the longer term as we transition to a low to zero carbon society.
Developed in considerable detail through significant member and community engagement, the

Building Economic Resilience report 1 sets forth a strong and sustainable vision for the future of Cork
and clearly indicates the appetite of the business community to engage and be progressive in
addressing social and environmental concerns and identifying the pivotal infrastructure needed to
enable and advance the sustainable development of the region. It is the role of Government to enable
this ambition.

The following graphic illustrates the clarity of vision displayed in the findings of the SCP Building
Economic Resilience Report.

Ireland 2040 Alignment & Inter Agency Collaboration
Infrastructure service providers are independent silo-based agencies and semi state service
providers with a national remit, centralized budget control and very significant and disparate funding
demands. Their list of investment priorities and service delivery programs must be aligned to Ireland
2040 and the position of Cork, as Ireland’s fastest growing City Region within it. The coordinated and
timely delivery or otherwise of water services has significant impacts on the development consent
process which can result in developments being refused on the basis of being premature, due to
these services deficits.

1
    https://www.corkchamber.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Sustainable-Cork-Programme-Building-Economic-Resilience.pdf

Therefore, a coordinated approach to funding and delivering each of the required services on a
targeted Ireland 2040 growth area basis needs to be addressed. There needs to be close liaison, and
concerted agreement, between Irish Water , Local Authorities, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII),
the NTA, Bus Eireann, Iarnród Éireann, ESB, GNI, National Broadband, LDA, IDA and EI and the
private sector to ensure that these areas are not just planned growth areas but areas where growth
is delivered on.

The current infrastructure situation is potentially a barrier to progress and the delivery of facilities
such as wastewater treatment can be very difficult to deliver because of planning and environmental
constraints. The timeframe for the design and delivery of such facilities as providing or upgrading a
wastewater treatment plant can extend upwards of five years. While we note that it is not within the
gift of a spatial plan to address this challenge it is clear that better funding, wider discretionary
spend, proactive infrastructural investment decisions and structured dialogue must be agreed upon
if the aims of the plan are to be fully realised. A forum for agreeing priorities among infrastructural
and local stakeholders could be a useful mechanism and the functioning of the Dunkettle
Interchange Traffic Management Forum is a microcosm of how this can be very effective.

Cork Insight
Through successive member, sectoral and stakeholder engagements it has become apparent that the
delivery of water infrastructure is severely constraining the delivery of housing, commercial land
industrial development throughout Cork. It is essential that this is addressed as it constrains not only
organic growth and demand but the vision set for Cork in Ireland 2040 and by stakeholders throughout
the region.
The provision of water infrastructure, both in terms of supply, and wastewater management, is a
significant inhibiting factor in the rollout of multiple infrastructural ventures from housing to industry
in Cork. Investment must be targeted in growth areas with clear plans and timelines set out.

It must also be noted that the quality of current infrastructure is chronically outdated in certain
locations. At the time of writing a boil water notice is in place for 6,500 people in the Midleton are of
East Cork. This not only affects current businesses and residents, but the multiple housing projects
that are currently in various phases of planning and development.

It is essential not only for development, but for the environmental and amenity assets of our rivers,
lakes and unrivalled harbour. The treatment of wastewater in Cork Harbour and rivers must be
aggressively enhanced and pursued, as quality of life, and natural environment are increasingly
essential to the competitiveness of Cork. Economy and nature are inseparable, and we must continue
to enhance our natural environment, of which water quality plays such an critically fundamental role.

Conversely, when capital investment is forthcoming the effects are tremendously positive. The
removal of the equivalent of 40,000 wheelie bins worth of daily wastewater discharge through the
Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Project is absolutely essential and beneficial. It is essential that

Irish Water completes this process with haste, and moves beyond this remediation of unconscionable
pollution, to an ambition for a crystal clear harbour and waterway system.

Conclusion
Irish Water service and delivery of infrastructure must be increased in investment levels and aligned
to Ireland 2040 and the role of Cork within this. Water infrastructural deficits are evident and delay
development and investment where they occur. It is essential that Irish Water maintains a strong
focus on Cork, working with stakeholders to identify and resolve current priority bottlenecks, and
proactively plan to ensure they do not occur in over the lifetime of this plan.