Tipperary councillors told overgrowth in River Suir will not be cleared out as it supports wildlife
A Thurles councillor calling for a “major clear out” of the River Suir has been told the overgrowth supports wildlife and will remain as is.
Independent councillor Jim Ryan raised the issue at the September meeting of the Thurles Municipal District, asking what plans were in place to remove trees and branches, which he said were blocking the river.
However, a senior council engineer said the overgrowth was supporting wildlife and habitats, while the council was being guided by stakeholders not to carry out the type of clearing work that had been done in the past.
“There’s some massive trees and branches going across the river in Thurles, and that’s surely blocking the river, so what are you planning on doing for a major clear out and clean up of the river?” Cllr Ryan asked.
“I sent on a picture to the council’s environment section of the River Suir back in the 1990s, and the levels of the water were high enough that there were kayaks on the river, and there was no overgrowth like there is today,” Cllr Ryan said.
In response, representatives from the River Basin Management Service said they are not responsible for cleaning up the river.
Senior council engineer Thomas Duffy said that the growth and trees in the river were supporting habitats and wildlife.
“While you’ve expressed your views about what the river should look like, we have got equal amounts of views from people telling us not to cut it back because of the amount of wildlife that is in that overgrowth,” he said.
“We’re never going to get back to that pristine condition as we see it in the 90s, at least not in the near future,” he added.
Despite this, Cllr Ryan said that there was still wildlife on the river when it was clean, and called on the council to give a commitment to clean the river out.
“Are we saying here today that we’re just going to let the River Suir in Thurles be completely overgrown?”
Cllr Ryan said that he couldn’t understand how the Suir in Cahir and Clonmel is “pristine”, but the stretch that flows through Thurles isn’t.
Mr Duffy said that the council was working with all the bodies involved in protecting water quality to come to a solution.
“All the stakeholders are guiding us not to carry out the work that we carried out to clear the grass and overgrowth there,” he explained.