Tipp councillor calls out waste water treatmant issues ahead of General Election

Countywide  voting may now be divided but the same issues are faced by both north and south, even if they are not presented in the same examples.

The housing crisis is one felt throughout the country but that doesn’t make Tipperary specific concerns any less of any issue for candidates to ensure they are able to deliver on. 

It was reported earlier this year that Tipperary County Council would be hiring a staff officer with a specific remit for homeless services on a three-year special purpose contract.  

The person,  to be based in Nenagh, was being hired after a July 2024 report revealed that there were 47 people in emergency accommodation throughout Tipperary in the month of  July.

Water management has also been a significant issue stopping houses from being built according to Nenagh councillor Seamus Morris who says: “I am calling for  a village-by-village and town-by-town plan to see how many houses can be built in each town and village based on waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) and water capacity, planning given, sites bought for social housing etc. to see what can be built. 

“While all this is happening our planning department is refusing planning for young people trying to build on their own land because of ‘ribbon development’.

“Other answers that I received show the lack of oversight on monitoring storm water overflows and sewerage overflows from WWTPs that are not working properly like the one in Ballycommon which has now been downgraded to a 350-pe plant but will still not get a discharge license from the EPA. 

“We will have Government General Election candidates making false promises on housing targets when they should be pulled up over the lack of funding for WWTPs while they commit    to wasting 10 billion euros to pump water (via the Shannon water supply project) to leak onto the streets of Dublin.”

Tipperary South councillor Liam Browne also made a point of the cost of housing recently stating that there were constituents coming to him asking how they were expected to afford to  buy a house at current prices with houses in one new estate in Cashel were selling at €355,000.

Clonmel councillor Pat English added that “the Council was playing catch up after nearly 20 years of not building social housing and there were still 3,500 applicants on the Council’s housing list.”