PRECAUTIONS in relation to the kind of severe flooding which is only likely to happen every thousand years are draining the lifeblood out of a Limerick village, is has been claimed.
In the wake of the floods which saw Limerick families having to be evacuated from their homes,
the local authorities have been told they must take account of the findings of a flood risk assessment report, which pinpoints which areas are likely to flood in the future.
But the report deals with worst case scenarios, including the one-thousand year flood event which is likely to result from global warming.
Montpellier, on the banks of the Shannon, is singled out as one of the areas which would be at risk in the event of such a flood but this effectively means a ban on any development in the village.
“Young people who want to build homes and raise families in the place they grew up in will not be able to do it anymore,” said Mick Murtagh, chairman of the local community group.
“It will drain the lifeblood out of the village of Montpellier if the young people can’t make their lives here. And the maddening thing is that most of Montpellier never floods,” he told the Limerick Post
The county council will have to take account of the report as the minister has made an order that they should, and it affects which areas can be zoned for development. Any area considered to be at risk of flooding cannot be zoned as land where homes or businesses can be built.
Mr Murtagh said that the local development committee has put a huge amount of work into developing facilities in the twin villages of Montpellier and O’Briensbridge.
‘We often say that the river is our lifeline as regards tourism and we have put a lot of work into developing facilities here. But if the village has no future then that’s a real kick in the teeth to those efforts. It’s nuts to penalise the village of Montpellier now for something that may or may not happen in the next thousand years”.
