Design work on Virginia Sewerage Scheme progressing

CONSTRAINT Upgrade needed to facilitate development

A new sewerage scheme for Virginia is progressing, elected members on the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District (MD) Authority were assured at their recent monthly meeting.

Senior executive engineer, John McGahern, gave an update on the proposed project following a query from Cllr T.P. O'Reilly.

"Cavan County Council Water Services Section are continuing to work with Irish Water and Veolia Water Ireland. Initial site visits and site surveys have been facilitated," outlined the engineer.

Technical viewings are taking place on a fortnightly basis to assist the contractor in formulating the design.

Detailed designs by Veolia are set to be assessed jointly by the local authority and Irish Water.

A workshop was hosted on October 27, following which the overall programme is to be reviewed, to evaluate the progress achieved to date.

Mr McGahern told the elected members it was his understanding they are progressing through the early contractor involvement in the design stage. "So, it is progressing," he said.

Cllr T.P. O'Reilly said they had been informed that it was going to design stage when he first came onto the Council.

The engineer explained that Irish Water is leading the project.

"It is a project that I will continue to push hard on. It is imperative that it is progressed as soon as possible," insisted Cllr O'Reilly.

Director of Services Eoin Doyle said that the scheme should be included in the new County Development Plan, which is currently being formulated.

A report on how that is progressing is due shortly from Nicholas O'Kane in the Planning staff.

"In order to keep this matter on the front foot, you should be making a specific statement in that Development Plan, that the expansion of the sewerage in Virginia is a crucial infrastructural project for the development of the county," advised Mr Doyle.

Cllr Shane P. O’Reilly said the lack of a modern sewerage plant in Virginia was stymieing development. Several housing developments in recent times have been blocked due to a capacity constraint.

"People want to live in Virginia. It is a beautiful town and this is really affecting the progress of the town. I am somewhat disappointed, because I sat at a meeting when Cllr T.P. O’Reilly was told that this project was going to design stage," said the independent representative.

Mr McGahern assured them the project is progressing through the statutory stages. "It is quite different to the more traditional method – it is called early contract involvement – it is a very specific procurement process," he explained.

He added that the early contract involvement seeks to bring an element of efficiency to the process when it is in the operation stage.

The engineer informed Cllr Shane P. O’Reilly that there were people at the plant to examine it, ask questions and get answers.

Cllr T.P. O'Reilly said it was positive news and he hoped the process would continue in that vein.