Uisce Éireann says local plant may take 7 years to upgrade.
PLANS to build a regional autism centre for adults in Dunmanway could be delayed for several years, due to a revised timeline for the upgrade of the town’s wastewater treatment plant.
The centre will also be West Cork’s first residential centre for adults with autism.
The delay in upgrading the water plant, which could take up to seven years, will also affect plans for a new mixed primary school and a fire station and, as previously reported, is also affecting new housing developments.
The new timeline for the treatment plant upgrade was outlined at an online meeting last Thursday between interested parties and Uisce Éireann.
Jim O’Mahony of the Kilbrittain Autism Tractor Run committee, who have spearheaded a massive fundraising campaign for the centre, also expressed disappointment with the delay but said they remain determined the autism centre will be built in Dunmanway.
‘Hopefully, a resolution to the matter can be found soon,’ Jim told The Southern Star.
Jackie Lynch, chair of the Dunmanway Autism Group, who back the plans for the proposed centre in the town said families badly need something like this in West Cork.
'There’s absolutely nothing there for adults from a residential perspective. It’s not good enough for Uisce Éireann to come around and say that it will take five to seven years for the upgrade,' she said.
John and Mary McCarthy of JMC Parts donated lands in Dunmanway for the centre in 2022 and fundraising efforts through the Kilbrittain Autism Tractor Run saw over €150,000 raised to help build the centre, while €9m was ringfenced by the government for the project.
Donal Cahalane of Cahalane Bros Construction and chair of the Dunmanway Waste Water Treatment Action Group, pointed out that it’s not a totally new water plant they are seeking. ‘It’s an upgrade to an existing one, and it shouldn’t take five to seven years. We can’t get planning for even one house, never mind an estate of houses. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and people are desperate for houses,’ he said.
Tim Buckley, chair of Dunmanway Chamber of Commerce, said he and his members are furious with Uisce Éireann following the meeting.
‘We now have to change tack when dealing with Uisce Éireann, as once again they are kicking the can down the road. I am challenging our junior minister Christopher O’Sullivan and Senator Noel O’Donovan to use their political power to highlight Dunmanway as a town that is dying on its feet,’ said Tim.
‘Young people are leaving our town, and our building companies have to send workers outside of Dunmanway as they cannot build in the town. It now means there will be a block on the development of housing, commercial units and a new mixed national school in the town, including over 200 ready-to-go houses, as well as a new autism centre for West Cork.’
He added that the chamber is hugely disappointed at how a semi-State body could ignore the obvious needs of a town which craves and necessitates growth and be allowed get away with it.
Local FF Cllr Deirdre Kelly said it is alarming that Dunmanway is expected to wait that long for a much-needed upgrade.
‘We have met with Uisce Éireann three times and on each occasion the county engineer has proposed interim measures, which would allow development in the town, while we wait for the main upgrade to take place. Uisce Éireann said they would take the proposals on board but have failed to report back on this,’ said Cllr Kelly.
‘We simply have to find an interim solution. A five-to-seven year wait is not an option.’
Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) said the future of the town hangs in the balance and that without new homes, Dunmanway risks falling behind while other towns grow.
