BANTRY business owners will be able to avail of a rates waiver scheme when works begin on digging up the town’s ancient culverts in 2026, an operation likened to ‘open heart surgery.’
Council chief executive Moira Murrell confirmed at a meeting of the local authority that while a provision for such a scheme can’t be made in its budget for this year, the Council is looking to get the scheme underway for 2026 where it can be considered. She said the Council will continue to engage with businesses struggling to pay bills due to the flooding.
Councillors had raised a motion calling for a rates waiver for more than 37 businesses in Bantry which were flooded on Saturday October 5th.
Several of the businesses remained closed for some time after the flooding, with Cllr Danny Collins (Ind Ire) stating there is ‘no money in the till’ for a lot of them.
He said it was like a bomb alert had been issued on the day of the flooding as the town was ‘empty and dreary’.
‘When the culverts work begins in 2026, which will be in four different stages, the businesses need a rates waiver or there will be a lot of closed doors in Bantry,’ said Cllr Collins.
Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) asked that the Council accelerate the replacement of that culvert with a more modern capacity system.
‘It’s complex and complicated but we need to accelerate it and we need to write to Uisce Éireann to ensure they are coming on board with the project,’ he said, pointing out there will be big disruptions for businesses as a result.
Cllr Noel O’Donovan (FG) asked if the works on the culvert can be expedited and pointed out it will be like ‘open heart surgery.’
‘Bantry will be solved as the Office of Public Works (OPW) do flood relief schemes well. But also, let’s develop some sort of rates waiver scheme for towns that are going through flood relief schemes,’ he said.
Cllr Finbarr Harrington (Ind) called for a specific liaison group to be set up to communicate dates and details of the flood works to the people of Bantry, while Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) agreed, saying the flooding is a ‘huge mental stress’ for the townspeople.
Deputy Holly Cairns (SD) said that a total of €255,000 has now been spent on flood mitigation in Bantry since 2021, but work on actual solutions to the flooding have not even begun.
She said funding had been approved by the OPW since 2021. This includes installation of non-return values, purchase of pumps, large sandbags, and individual property protection.
‘To spend over a quarter of a million euro on flood mitigation, without carrying out any work at all on long-term solutions to actually prevent floods, was ‘yet another example of this Government’s irresponsible use of public money’, said the Deputy.
Meanwhile, West Cork FG senator Tim Lombard has written to Council chief executive Moira Murrell proposing a campaign to promote Bantry as a shopping and dining destination for Christmas.
