Fine Gael TD for Wicklow/East Carlow, Andrew Doyle, has welcomed the announcement by Irish Water and Wicklow County Council to select the Old Wallboard site on the North Key as the emerging preferred site option for the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“This long and much overdue infrastructural requirement is exactly what the town of Arklow needs to provide public and commercial services to the betterment of the locality and to ultimately delivery on improving the town’s re-generation” Doyle said
The project includes:
- A new Wastewater Treatment Plant (WwTP) estimated to treat 36,000 PE (Population Equivalent) and associated infrastructure such as a pumping station(s);
- Pipeline(s) to bring the untreated wastewater to the WwTP and to bring treated wastewater from the plant to the outfall;
- An outfall pipe, to safely discharge the treated wastewater to the sea.
“As a key element to Arklow town’s growth, infrastructure is one of the main pillars to achieve progress and with this in mind I very much welcome the decision by Irish Water and Wicklow County Council after careful due diligence to locate the water treatment plan on the North Key, Old Wallboard site as the Emerging Preferred Site option for the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant.
At present, untreated wastewater from homes and businesses in Arklow is discharged into the Avoca River and this practice is not acceptable. Irish Water, in partnership with Wicklow County Council, is committed to providing a new WwTP for Arklow.
“Arklow has been in dire need for twenty first century infrastructure and this announcement has been a long time coming. After discussions with Irish Water and the Minister for the Environment and Local Government I would like to commend the decision to select the site on the North Key as not only is it providing critical services it is also enhancing the location by developing on a derelict industrial site, delivering the plant at lower cost and at greater speed.”
All feedback received from this second phase of non-statutory public consultation will be reviewed by the project team and will be used to inform the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála as part of a planning application. An Bord Pleanála will then carry out a statutory consultation which will provide people with a further opportunity to have their say at that stage
“This decision is of vital importance to Arklow in terms of the towns re-development and regeneration and I have no doubt will help to enhance Arklow and make it more attractive to regional development strategy under the recently announced Regional Aid Map, and also from the prospective of the betterment of the local community ” concluded Doyle TD