Flood defences Clontarf - Latest Update

We really took our eyes off the ball on this issue didn’t we!!.

I remember ringing the council after I’d seen the original plans giving out that a washed out hand painted picture of the proposal wasn’t up to my expectations of decent information and I had expected a 3D plan . Now I know why the latter wasn’t forthcoming . If we had seen it then in 3D, we would never have agreed to their version of what tthey said we needed !! ( Incidentally, does anyone have a copy of the original plans we all got shown? it would make interesting reading to see at what stage what we were told was going to be a six foot wall and no mention of a water pipe suddenly grew overnight without anyone being the wiser)?

This is an awful plan? What other city’s beautiful views in it’s Bay area would allow it to become extingt overnight and have everyone instead of facing a lovely view, all you will see is a high embankment and for what? I feel very cheated by the supposed expert planners to say the least. If I’d wanted to live on a motorway with high embankments for miles, I wouldn’t have set my roots in beautiful Clontarf!!!

If this goes ahead if will be a monstrosity! No one in their right mind would want to walk on the prom for fear of being attacked etc. and how on earth would anyone needing help call for assistance? They can’t be seen from the roadway and are hemmed in by the sea on one side and a very high wall on the other !! Heaven help any ambulance trying to get down the prom, with only a few ways of getting onto it, if you had a major incident at the sea front, if this goes as per their plans, lives will be put at risk!! 

There will also be major dissruption to the migratory birdlife food hunting on the grass, where are they supposed to re locate to for 2 years???

Why can’t we increase the height of the existing wall by say 3 feet using cement , and do the top part the same way that Waterford Quay area is done and raise the level of the prom by the same 3 feet , put a smaller wall where the proposed 8’ wall is and drop the BUND which is just an excuse to hide the proposed water main?

Please can we have a list of names, addresses /phone numbers and or e-mail addresses of the relevent people to write our letters of complaint to and maybe a prototype letter to get th e ball rolling. Also, how about doing a A4 poster for us all to print off and put in our windows etc.just like we did for the fight with the proposed 52 acres???

Lets stop this absolutely daft idea - I’ll be getting out this afternoon!

DL

asong suggestion
DONT FENCE ME IN

I can’t belive their blocking off a beautiful view,
I am so upset that we won’t be able to see the sea!!D:
and I think my dog will miss walking up on that wall D’;
xx

Thank you so much Clontarf Resident and Business Associations for highlighting this sham !
I understand YOU are working extremely hard on our behalves.
Clearly the Dublin City Council been PUBLIC SERVANTS were neither PUBLIC on this issue nor SERVE the community of Clontarf & Dubin’s best interest !.
Well done again….......................

Heads up…look around at the natural beauty of the prom and figure out a better way to do this!!

The Minister has said that if the money is not used this year, it might not be available next year. Result, yes?

You might want to consult with a hydrographic engineer about the necessity of these defences.
The way the harbour is designed is to trap a large volume of water between the north and south Bull walls to create tidal scour at the entrance.
The system was designed to have two relief systems to prevent too much pressure (water) in the harbour. One was the half height section of the north wall (from the Marian statue out to the North Bull Light) and the other was the gap in the north wall that was later bridged by the now iconic wooden bridge.
There is a lot of detail about this design in the book about the history of Dublin port. It is also touched on briefly in this website: http://www.clontarfonline.com/bull_wall.htm
When they built the causeway from Raheny across to the Bull Island they effectively closed off the essential 2nd relief valve to allow water out of the harbour when it is rising too high.
Flooding only occurs when a strong easterly wind coincides with a high tide and usually heavy rain. In this situation there are two rivers, lots of streams and storm drains etc. pouring into the harbour enclosed by the north and south walls, but it cannot get out as the wind is forcing more seawater into the harbour entrance.
This is when the excess water should be able to escape via the gap in the north wall (wooden bridge) and out into the bay around the Bull Island. Since it cannot escape this way it finds the next lowest or weakest spot, be it Clontarf or Ballybough or wherever, and floods it.
The city council regularly quotes a tidal study stating that the causeway was built at a null point in the tidal stream, but was this data gathered during an easterly storm?
I am not a Hydrographic Engineer, so I cannot state for certain that this is definitely the main issue, but I am sure it must be a contributory factor.
If the 2nd relief valve was reinstated a much reduced defence for Clontarf might be feasible.

Letter from Deirdre Heney this a.m.

Thank you for your email regarding proposed flood defence works along the Clontarf seafront.

When this matter was initially put to Councillors by senior Council officials the height was to be 1.2 meters.  During the planning process and discussions between Dublin City Council, An Bord Plean?la and the Office of Public Works, the eight then went from 1.2 to 2.75m without any consultation whatsoever with local residents or Clontarf Councillors.

At our meeting with senior City Council management yesterday (12 October) I and other Councillors strongly argued on behalf of residents that the new height cannot and must not go ahead. We made it very clear to the Manager that the height he is proposing is most definitely not on. 

The Manager did acknowledge that he had failed to communicate with us on the new flood barrier height and agreed that we needed to find a resolution to the problem.  He gave a commitment that no decision would be taken on the matter prior to his giving Councillors a full report on the project and an opportunity for Councillors to further address the issue at our next City Council meeting on November 7th. 

The Manager also said that over the next three weeks, City Council would engage with residents and businesses through locally arranged meetings in an effort to try and reach agreement on an acceptable flood alleviation project being built where insurance would not be an issue.  I said that Clontarf residents want a flood defence barrier but not one that?s 2.75m in height.  I said that the matter could not be resolved in such a short a period as 3 weeks because people need time to work together in a sensible and collaborative manner so that we can achieve a balanced resolution to this debacle. 

Please keep in touch with me on this issue.

Regards,

Deirdre.

Deirdre Heney.

Fianna F?il Councillor,

Clontarf Ward.

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 10:22 PM, Orlagh Burke wrote:

This should be taken to court, to stop this - there was a lack of communication with the Clontarf residents, we were totally unaware of the plans for this project.  If we had this would never have been approved by anyone in Clontarf and every objection would have been raised.
No one in their right mind would have agreed to a nine foot wall along the front in Clontarf???????
How utterly horrific and unimaginable.
SOME OF THE ISSUES :
1) Safety Hazzard - No one in their right mind will walk, play or do any kind of leisure activity behind a 9ft wall.
2) Anti - Social behaviour.
3) De-valuation of properties in Clontarf
4) Loss of leisure amenities and a natural beauty, destruction of the bay area.
    Loss of one of the most scenic and beautiful bay areas, a real treasure.
5) 9ft wall full of Graffiti.
6) Is there now also a plan to regain the Dublin Bay area that we do not know about.

Was due process carried out in this case, lets see justice done here.

A very distraught Clontarf resident.

Deirdre Heaney

This is disgusting!!!  putting a wall up on the seafront is the stupidest thing i have ever heard of!  imagine ways that clontarf could be so dangerous after putting this wall up   Clontarf will turn disgusting there will be grafifi on the wall.

If this goes through it will be a complete travesty - it will destroy an area of natural beauty and I’m sure even the minority of people who have been affected by flooding in the past would not want this solution, I will help the residents of Clontarf and the greater Dublin area do everything possible to stop this.

Get a life dublin city do you think all the wonderfull people in clontarf are going to take this sitting down well we will not, so better come up with a better plan then this . what do they think we will have a tsunami like japan ,,,well thats the size of the wall they built, Have they all lost it to remove the most wonderfull promenade only 3 ks from the city its never looked so good day and night to see the ships coming into port to watch the children play old coulpes   enjoying the peace ..i could go on it makes my blood boil at such a total ridiculas plan , not alone our view its deeper then that, safety for walkers ,children ,  who enjoyed the little pleasures in life, another thing were will the cars go have they thought of that i cant even get parking on my street and im not allowed to put a drive in as it will spoil the view of my street is this all a joke yet they plan to spoil miles and miles wish they could try to get there house in order or will we have another berling wall to pull down in years to come when they see what a mess they are making of our wonderfull clontarf

Typical Dublin Council.They’re trying to call it a flood barrier.( Not needed for the last 30 years) So to save themselves a few bob.and a bit of work they, leave these pipes above ground put crap over them then put grass over it. Block the beautiful view, destroy a fabulous promenade and amenaty from visitors and residents.Why dont we Just get onto Dublin Port, Fill in the 52 acres. As we wont be able to see anything anyway. Come on our local representatives. .Fight for us. We voted for you’s. Justify our faith in you’s.

What an eyesore it will be.  People come from all over Dublin to enjoy the Clontarf promenade.  The negative effects of the flood defence wall far outweigh any positives. I heard that there is a protest on sunday 3pm on seafront. Spread the word.  We cant let this happen!

We have a Beautiful Promenade which defines Clontarf and of which the people of Clontarf are so proud of. It is beyond belief that it is going to be destroyed. Is there a competition running as to which Council can come up with the most idiotic idea !!

8 foot high bank to keep out 2foot of water- what a joke- it is incredible to believe this is what we have running the City Council that they think it is OK to try and force this monstrosity on us= i have not met anyone since this news broke who were aware of what was happening- so much for their consultation process. Clontarf is unique in so far that 3 miles from its center we have a promenade that we are all proud of- lets all fight to keep it.

I am a young girl and dont want to see a huge wall along the seafront for the rest of my life when we have our beautiful sea front instead. The sea adds to clontarf and this town would not be the same without the view.

Don’t flatter this project with the misleading title “flood defence”.

I suggest refering to it by something more appropriate and accurate like the “overground watermain”.

Bury the pipe and then consider what, if any, defences are actually necessary.

Bury the new watermain, not the view.

We must as people of Dublin stand up and be counted and not allow this to happen.Clontarf promenade is so beautiful how can they think they can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!How did the Dutch manage this problem?

This wall makes no sense, it’s untirely unwanted even by the people who are at risk of flooding (although not necessarily from the sea)
The seafront is really beautiful and they are going to destroy what is one of the nicest things about Clontarf!!! It can’t go ahead!!!

sorry - the march Sunday 16th Oct!

Are they ‘fooking’ crazy - they will never get away with this - utter maddness building an 8ft wall along Clontarf sea front!! March on Sunday 23rd Oct from the wooden bridge - if any bricks go up they will be knocked down!

I am shocked at this proposed development for the Clontarf prom We are living in a recession and for a lot of people going out for a walk along the prom is uplifting and the beautiful views takes there mind of a lot of things going on in there lives. Do dublin city council want us to live in a concrete jungle altogether

VIP - ESB INTERNATIONAL LTD (ESBI) recommended constructing a new bridge over the causeway to St Annes Golf Club (circa 1996) to alleviate flooding in the Clontarf area and restore the natural flow of water in the lagoon.  The report was commissioned by DCC. The report outlined that the causeway acts as a dam restricting the natural flow of water on both sides of causeway. The bridge proposal was presented to residents in Belgrove Girls School but never build due to cost.  The current proposal should be shelved and DCC act on the advice of their consultants (ESBI) and build the bridge.

How can we as dubliners object to this in a way that will stop this?

Please note that there are also a large number of public comments on the previous news item re the flood defence scheme.

Thank you to everyone for posting, we appreciate your views and your support.

Clontarf is not alone Sanymount is next.

Sandymount Promenade and Flood Protection Project
The SPFPP is part of the S2S Project which was included as an objective of the current Development Plans for Dublin City Council, and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and has also been included in the Dublin Docklands Development Authority?s Masterplan and the Dublin Transportation Office?s Platform for Change.

Flood protection is to be a primary function of the proposed new facility and a minimum standard of flood protection based on a 1 in 200 year return period was adopted in line with the current recommendation of the Office of Public Works.

the below taken from ww.dublincity.ie
Dollymount Promenade and Flood Protection Project
The DFPP is part of the S2S Project which was included as an objective of the current Development Plans for Dublin City Council, and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and has also been included in the Dublin Docklands Development Authority?s Masterplan and the Dublin Transportation Office?s Platform for Change. The completion of S2S is also a policy within the Governments? Cycle Policy Framework 2009.

Can’t believe what is about to happen to the Clontarf promenade!
This prom is used by the people of Dublin and visitors, the beautiful seaview that we have to offer will be destroyed, so lets all get together on Sunday next at the bull wall and protest this move.