Raw sewage flooding Tipperary estate prompts calls for council intervention
An ongoing “public health issue” in a Tipperary estate has prompted calls from elected representatives for the local authority to step in and help.
The Church View estate in Clerihan, outside Clonmel is a privately-built housing estate, but issues with sewage were still plaguing residents, the July meeting of the Clonmel Borough District heard.
Fine Gael councillor John Fitzgerald said that the issue with sewage in the estate amounted to a “public health issue”.
It is understood that there are problems with the pumping station that deals with sewage within the estate, which allows raw sewage to flood parts of the area, including the green space where children play.
“The sewage issues have been alleviated by the original developer, but residents in this very hot weather are concerned about the recurrence of this. There’s a levels issue, the pumping issue, trying to get water to the water treatment plant.
“The residents there are trying to organise themselves in a grouping to hit home how much this means to them. It’s a public health issue and children have found themselves traipsing across this bit of the green where the bubbling up of sewage happens,” Cllr Fitzgerald said.
Backing his council colleague’s calls, Cllr Tom Acheson said that there must be a solution to the issues in Church View.
“Is there anything we can do in Clerihan? I know it’s a private property, the developer there has to do some work, but surely there’s something we can do to alleviate this situation, maybe levy the developer.
“There must be some remedy that we can pursue,” he said.
Mayor of Clonmel Siobhán Ambrose also agreed with her council colleagues, adding that all councillors in the chamber had received complaints about the long-running issue.
“Something about the summertime as well, these issues really become pronounced, particularly during hot weather, so I would ask that any engagement that the council can in relation to this be done,” she said.
The estate is currently waiting to be taken in charge by Tipperary County Council, meaning that the local authority would assume responsibility for maintaining the facilities and infrastructure.
However, before this can happen, water and wastewater infrastructure has to be shown to be up to minimum standards, or must be brought up to minimum standards for the council to take over responsibility.
In response, Annemarie Devaney, a senior planner with the council said she would take the concerns back to the taking in charge team’s engineer.
“What I will commit to do is go back and speak to our taking in charge engineer and potentially the environment section as well to see what we can do, and I will update the members accordingly,” Ms Devaney said.
The houses in Clerihan were built back in the 2000s, and issues with the pumping station there have been ongoing since at least 2024.
Residents in the estate were also left without public lighting for a number of years, but this had since been rectified.