CCC Statement Post Storm Babet

November 2023

In 2016, Cork County Council was asked by the Office of Public Works to take the lead in advancing the Midleton Flood Relief Scheme. Council, acting as an Agent of the OPW, tendered for Engineering & Environmental Consultancy Services in June 2016. The scope of this contract included groundwater, pluvial, fluvial and tidal flood risks with an estimated project cost of approximately €15-20 million. From this tender process, Arup were formally appointed on the 21st November 2016 and commenced Stage I. 

The OPW are, and have been from the outset, fully committed to funding the Midleton Flood Relief Scheme. The delivery of Flood Relief Schemes nationally is supported by €1.3 billion through the National Development Plan 2021–2030. 

The flood relief scheme, like all flood relief schemes, is broken into five distinct stages, as follows: 

• Stage I: Development of flood defence options & identification of a preferred Scheme
• Stage II: Statutory Planning/Consent Process, including Environmental Impact Assessment 
• Stage III: Detailed Construction Design and Tender
• Stage IV: Construction
• Stage V: Handover

As part of Stage I, significant, detailed hydraulic and hydrological analysis and modelling has been carried out. Flood risk mapping to identify areas at flood risk was prepared. The scheme is broken into 6 discrete flood areas, with varying flood mechanisms for each area. A suite of options to prevent flooding at each of these locations was developed. 

At the outset of the project, data did not exist on all flood sources and monitoring was required over a number of years to allow the flooding mechanism to be understood for the design of the scheme. In particular, because of the influence of groundwater flooding in Midleton, detailed ground investigation was required. This allowed the project team to develop an understanding of how the groundwater interacts with the rivers in the catchment and the complex groundwater regime in Midleton. Seasonal groundwater data was essential in this regard – monitoring of groundwater levels over a number of seasons was required.  

Stage I is now substantially complete, and work on elements of Stage II has commenced. Baseline environmental surveys have been carried out over the past number of years. A formal notice of commencement of Stage II will be published in the coming weeks.  

It is important to realise that the requirements for planning design, and environmental reporting and assessment, have changed dramatically since the inception of the Midleton FRS to require a far greater level of detail at planning design stage than previously was the case. It is crucial that the planning design and accompanying reporting is sufficiently robust to stand up to scrutiny at the consent stage. Works to date ensure the scheme is robust, supported by strong evidence, has the support of the community, is future-proofed and adaptable to climate change scenarios. The preferred option protects 580 properties against a one-in-100-years flood event, can give back flood insurance to the town and will stand up to scrutiny once completed. 

Part of Council’s work in developing a robust flood relief scheme included conducting extensive public engagement. The first public participation day (PPD) was held in March 2017. The purpose of this PPD was to engage with the public, outline the process involved and gather local knowledge. A total of 88 attendees signed the attendance list at the event.  

A second Public Participation Day was held on the 7th March 2020. The attendance at this event was estimated to be approximately 210 people. The purpose of PPD2 was to present a suite of potential options and to seek feedback in order to identify a preferred scheme.  This was an additional PPD which had not been envisaged at the outset of the project. Cork County Council felt that it was important to hold this additional day to allow further opportunity for the public to participate in the project development.

Key issues were raised at PPD2, including Natural Flood Management and Climate Change, as well as specific comments around the options proposed and the design of the scheme. A large volume of submissions was received following this event, both negative and positive.   

Significant additional work was carried out as a result of this feedback:  

• An assessment of Natural Flood Management and its applicability to the Midleton catchment was requested from the consultants, and was published on the project website in February 2021.   It is our understanding that this is the first such assessment of its kind for any FRS in the country.  
• A Scheme Climate Change Adaptation Plan was requested from the consultants and commissioned by the OPW.  The plan was completed in July 2023, following significant engagement with the Climate Change team in the OPW.  This is the first such plan for any FRS in the State and will act as a template for other schemes in the future.  

An enhanced Multi-Criteria Assessment was carried out for Midleton.  Again, this was additional beyond what had originally been allowed for in the project scope.  This enhanced MCA was carried out on the back of experience gained by Council and the OPW on other schemes. The MCA comprised a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact of the reasonable alternatives. This ensures that the options selection process for the scheme meets the requirements of the EIA directive, in terms of the ‘reasonable alternatives test’.  

The Midleton FRS interacts with a large number of other projects – both Cork County Council and other statutory bodies, and a large body of work has been carried out to ensure that these other projects do not impede the development of the FRS and that where possible opportunities can be identified for progressing relevant elements of the FRS.  

A further PPD was held in July 2022, to present the Emerging Preferred Option to the public. This event was again very well attended, with over 110 attendees. Again, the invaluable feedback from this PPD was used in the refinement of the design for the scheme, so that the Preferred Option is now developed, and Council is ready to start the planning design and continue the Environmental Impact Assessment.  

It should be noted that the need to assess over several seasons together with the number of public consultations and the highly detailed studies, by definition takes considerable time but provides for the most robust of schemes, as is the case in Midleton.  

The total project costs based on the Preferred Option are now in the region of €50 million.

Cork County Council, together with the OPW, and Arup (consultants for the scheme), is committed to the delivery of the Midleton FRS. The planning submission will be advanced in the most efficient manner, so as to deliver the scheme as soon as possible for Midleton.  

Cork County Council is currently reviewing and investigating what interim measures can be done in advance of the main scheme, based on the risk profile of affected properties and will prioritise this work when viable measures are identified.   An assessment of the impacts of Storm Babet is also underway.  Any recommendations arising from this assessment will be actioned, where possible, as a matter of urgency.