Major Tipperary road sinking as ‘massive’ water leak continues
A major road in Tipperary town is sinking due to an underground water leak, with local councillors claiming little action has been taken to fix the problem.
At the December meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District, Sinn Féin councillor Annemarie Ryan raised the issue of a large leak on Tipperary town’s main street, with the road starting to sink as a result of it.
The Main Street in Tipperary town sits on the N24 route which travels from Waterford to Limerick, with large volumes of cars, trucks and buses passing through the town every day.
A large leak has been reported by the main set of traffic lights in the town, next to an area known as Crosse’s Corner.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Ryan said that councillors had been raising the issue for a number of weeks but nothing had been done to fix the leak so far, particularly at a time when water infrastructure in the town is so stretched.
"We have a huge, massive leak on the Main Street and a pothole, which I’ve raised and we’ve all raised numerous times in the last few weeks, and the road is sinking down there,” Cllr Ryan said.
“Uisce Éireann haven’t done anything about it,” she added.
Recently, Uisce Éireann confirmed to Cllr Ryan that water pressure in Tipperary town was routinely being turned down at night time, a fact which was described as “outrageous” by the Sinn Féin councillor.
"Tipperary town at the moment is suffering from regular water reductions at night time, so people can’t use their washing machines or their showers after 9pm at night, and in certain parts of town, at higher levels, they have no water at all.
"I wrote to Uisce Éireann two weeks ago and they gave me this reply, and it was such a shock. It says ‘if these restrictions were not in place, the town would be without water in two days’, which is pretty shocking,” Cllr Ryan said.
"It’s an outrageous situation that we find ourselves in,” she added.
Fine Gael councillor John Crosse supported Cllr Ryan, saying that councillors are getting nowhere with trying to address the leak.
"I know it’s an Uisce Éireann issue, but we have been on the merry go round with this, and maybe a call from the district engineer may not be any harm,” he said.
In response, the district engineer James Swords said that it is hoped that the leak will be looked at this week, but that it’s a “constant battle” with the water utility company.
"I’ve been battling with Uisce Éireann for a number of years, and frustrating is an understatement, it’s going on way too long, we’re constantly battling and we’re not getting much success out of them,” Mr Swords said.
"I think it’s this week they’re going at the leak at the traffic lights, they were at a job in Kilfeacle earlier this week,” he explained.
"They are working with us, but we’re putting a lot of our own staff time into trying to sort out issues, it’s just not good enough,” Mr Swords added.