‘I won’t stop until I get it’ - Cllr

A Virginia councillor has expressed frustration regarding the delivery of a new waste water treatment plant for Virginia to relieve a capacity constraint on the system.

“I know we’re at the planning stage but people are getting very fed up of people saying it’ll be done by 2024,” Fine Gael Councillor, TP O’Reilly, said at the meeting of the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District meeting last Friday.

“If we want to be on top of the housing crisis, we need to start with the sewerage,” he remarked.

A number of residential developments in the east Cavan town have been refused planning permission in recent years until such time as the new plant is installed.

“We’re in a housing crisis. We can build all the houses we like in Virginia,” continued Cllr O’Reilly but he deemed it as being a waste of time if the town didn’t “have the infrastructure there”.

Embarrassing

Agreeing with the motion, Independent councillor Shane P O’Reilly said: “It’s embarrassing.” He continued to say that members of the public had complained following sightings of sewerage overflow in Lough Ramor.

Responding to the motion, senior executive engineer, John McGahern, stated: “I can’t comment on it because it’s in planning.” The lack of capacity at the current plant saw a number of proposed developments refused planning permission due to environmental concerns.

Among the developments blocked was a small, eight-house development earmarked for a site in 2020. Cavan County Council approved the plans, but an appeal by Inland Fisheries Ireland over the potential environmental impact saw An Bord Pleanála reject it.

Developments as far back as 2017 have been blocked due to capacity constraints at the existing plant. A 78-home development at The Drumlins, Bailieborough Road, was denied planning permission that year.

Calls for the treatment plant to be prioritised have been made regularly over recent years but progress has been slow on planning and design of the project.

Inland Fisheries Ireland has in the past claimed the current treatment plant is exceeding its design recommendations by up to 37%.

Concluding the motion, T.P. O’Reilly said: “It’s like a bit of bacon stuck between my teeth at the moment, I won’t stop until I get it.”