Wait for water connection delaying start of work on 44 new Tipperary homes, Seanad told

A projected four month wait to secure a water connection is holding up building commencing on a new estate of 44 homes in Cahir. And the developer fears the start date will be pushed beyond the prime summer months, the Seanad heard last week.

South Tipperary Senator Imelda Goldsboro highlighted the case to Minister of State for Local Government & Planning John Cummins in the Seanad last Thursday and called for Uisce Éireann to streamline its water connections process.

She cited the four week wait to secure water connections as one of the challenges “hindering the progress of housing” in the country.

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The Fianna Fáil Senator highlighted the developer behind this 44 house project did all the paperwork, carried out the relevant procedures and adhered to all the guidelines, rules and regulations but was told by Uisce Éireann he will have to wait 16 weeks to secure a water connection.

“We are right in the peak of good weather and it is very suitable for building, but having to wait four months is going to cause a number of delays. It is going to have a significant negative impact on him, his other developments and his staff,” she explained.

“I ask that we have a look with Uisce Éireann to see what way it can streamline its process, especially for developments, and how it plans to change the existing structures to be more productive and beneficial for developers and for those who are in rural one-off houses.

“We are trying to get into an area where we have housing growth and development, and we have a number of challenges and factors. I know there are also issues with the ESB, finance and planning, and we are trying to get those issues addressed. But Uisce Éireann is the one which is of great concern.”

Minister Cummins responded that the “scope prioritisation and progression” of individual projects were matters for Uisce Éireann and his Department hadn’t an operational function.

However, he had engaged with Uisce Éireann in recent weeks on this issue.

“We had an upfront and honest conversation about what I could do to assist the organisation in streamlining the consenting process for projects. I also made it very clear that I expect it to deliver pre-connection and connection agreements within agreed timeframes, which, regrettably, have not been happening at a sufficiently high rate to date.

“I am advised the 16 weeks the Senator referenced is an indicative timeframe for connection applications, with more straightforward applications taking a shorter period.

“Uisce Éireann notes that larger and more complicated developments or developments in areas of already limited capacity require additional time and resources to be deployed.

“Uisce Éireann actively encourages submissions to be made as early as possible in the process to allow for full assessments to be completed because technical challenges may arise that may impact timelines.

“Where additional information or clarification is required with respect to land ownership, access or third party constraints associated with a particular site or developer, connection offers may be reliant on a number of customers entering connection agreements with Uisce Éireann at the same time. This can sometimes lead to delays while engagement with multiple parties is ongoing.

Minister Cummins said he didn’t know if any of those issues were relevant to the case highlighted by Senator Goldsboro but he was informed the application for a water connection for that development was submitted in early February.

“It is currently under review by Uisce Éireann’s design team to understand the available capacity in the system to facilitate the development and any additional works that may be necessary. An update will be given to the developer in the coming weeks.”

Senator Goldsboro welcomed the Minister of State’s talks with Uisce Éireann but stressed the utility needed to listen to developers, councillors, ministers and the Government and make changes. It was “not good enough” that this was “hindering progress” in delivering more housing.

Minister Cummins replied that Uisce Éireann has invested in resources and people to tackle this issue and introduced initiatives to improve the situation such as capacity registers for water and wastewater, the first mover scheme and self-lay accreditation scheme.

Senator Imelda Goldsboro