Warnings that water problems could hinder growth in Tipperary's largest town

The lack of a proper water supply in Clonmel is a serious problem for the future growth of the town, the town’s first citizen has stated.

District Mayor Pat English made his remarks during a discussion at Clonmel Borough District on the Clonmel Local Area Plan (LAP) 2024-2030, which is being prepared at present.

He said that when the planning officials of Tipperary County Council were having discussions with Uisce Éireann (formerly known as Irish Water), they should impress upon them that they shouldn’t just walk away from the pristine water supply that is available from the Poulavanogue and Glenary water treatment plants in Clonmel.

There had been a promise of investment by Uisce Éireann in the Glenary plant, but they hadn’t seen it yet.

The Mayor said they shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket by relying on the expansion of the Monroe scheme.

Cllr John FitzGerald described it as “bizarre” that Uisce Éireann hadn’t considered investing in the Poulavanogue plant, which supplied a never-ending intake of fresh, clean water coming into a town the size of Clonmel.

From his research, the Poulavanogue supply, when properly managed, is “the best water in western Europe”. The water was coming down from the mountains and didn’t need to be pumped.

Instead, Uisce Éireann was putting the emphasis on the expansion of the Monroe supply, but it might be a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Cllr FitzGerald said the planning officials should be cognisant of that during discussions with Uisce Éireann.

In a statement, Cllr Michael Murphy said it was “difficult to reconcile future development proposals for Clonmel, whether residential, industrial or commercial, which will require a secure and adequate water supply, with the current availability of drinking water.

“Irish Water has indicated that its interim proposals for the development of the Monroe Wellfield will not be commissioned until 2026, which is well into the lifetime of the LAP. And it seems that the proposal to abstract water from the River Suir, first presented to the elected members of South Tipperary County Council in 2012, is as far away as ever.

“While the wastewater infrastructure in Clonmel, in terms of the spare capacity of the town’s wastewater treatment plant and the extent of the sewerage network, seems to be adequate for future development during the lifetime of the LAP, the same cannot be said for the drinking water infrastructure.

“Tipperary County Council is acutely aware of the challenges presented to the security of the existing water supply services by the constant interruptions to supply caused by operational issues at the water treatment plants located at Poulavanogue and Glenary (and, to a lesser extent, at Monroe), and by the water outages due to bursts in an ageing water main network.

“The case for urgent and significant investment in the town’s water supply infrastructure has been well made to Irish Water (Uisce Éireann), as the water services authority, by both the executive and the elected members of Tipperary County Council”.

Cllr Murphy stated that a further issue in relation to the availability of an adequate water supply is the development of the Ballingarrane Science, Business and Technology Campus.

“Clearly, this campus cannot be developed to its full potential without the security of a water supply, preferably a public one from Irish Water. The forthcoming provision by Tipperary County Council, in partnership with IDA Ireland, of an Advance Technology Building presents a particular challenge in this regard”.

He said it was disappointing that the Issues Paper of the Local Area Plan was silent on what he considered to be a significant issue, “the constraint in the medium term (five to ten years) development of the county town of Tipperary, which is the provision of a safe, secure and adequate water supply”.