Simon Harris T.D., Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, today (Monday 28 July) encouraged members of the public to visit City Hall in Cork for a Public Information Day on the Lower Lee (Cork City) Flood Relief Scheme.  This Public Information day will take place on Tuesday 29 July 2014.

The scheme will cover the area from Inniscarra Dam to downstream of the City on the River Lee, and it will also include proposals for Blackpool and Ballyvolane which are affected by tributaries of the River Lee.  The plans will be on display until Tuesday 5 August 2014. This is the second Public Information Day and will provide an overview of the emerging preferred scheme to be brought forward later this year. 

Speaking ahead of the public information day, Minister Harris said "This Public Information Day will give everyone an opportunity to look at the designs so far and members of the Project Design and Environmental Teams will be there on the day to answer any questions.  I know the Teams have been developing a number of flood defence options aimed at finding a solution to the flooding which we all know has such a devastating effect on the city". 

Following on from this consultation process, the outline design of the preferred scheme will then be developed and the statutory public exhibition will take place over a six-week period in December 2014.  It is expected that the detailed design phase will commence in the second quarter of 2015, with the procurement of civil works contractor to begin towards the end of 2015. The timescale will, of course, be dependent on the acceptance of the proposed scheme by the public and the amount of amendments that may be proposed as a result of submissions made.

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For further information please contact Colette Davis, OPW Press Officer at 046 942 6128 or 087 947 5552 or opwpressoffice@opw.ie

Note for Editors:

Representatives of the Office of Public Works’ Design Team and Environmental Consultants will be in attendance at Cork City Hall on 29 July from 2pm to 9pm to answer any questions that interested persons may have regarding the Scheme’s proposals. Following this the display will also be available for viewing and feedback for a period of 5 days from 29 July 2014. All feedback will be taken account of by the Design Team in the preparation of the outline and detailed design schemes and comments can also be submitted via the Contact Page on the project website.

Details of this project on: www.lowerleefrs.ie

Details of the OPW CFRAM Programme are at www.cfram.ie