Flooding in Rathfarnham during the storm in January
Photo by An Garda Siochana
Legal challenge delayed Stream Flood Alleviation Scheme
A legal challenge by local groups which delayed the Whitechurch Stream Flood Alleviation Scheme by almost two years may have contributed to serious flooding in Rathfarnham during Storm Chandra.
Approximately 20 homes on Whitechurch Road and Grange Park Road were flooded when the Whitechurch Stream overflowed during heavy downpours in the early hours of January 26 this year.
A “full investigation” is being undertaken by South Dublin County Council to determine the cause of the flooding.
While An Bord Pleanála had granted planning permission for the Whitechurch Flood Alleviation Scheme (FAS) in December 2020, works on the scheme were delayed up to 21 months after Ballyboden Tidy Towns applied for a judicial review of the scheme in February 2021.
This review was dismissed by the High Court in November 2021 and a Leave to Appeal was refused a few weeks later.
Ballyboden Tidy Towns then failed in a Supreme Court bid to halt the works by arguing the permission from An Bord Pleanála should have been time-limited due to requirements under the EU Habitats Directive in November 2022 and works officially began in February.
During the annual report for SDCC’s 2025 Climate Action Plan at the full council meeting on Monday, March 9, Cllr Alan Edge (Ind) asked if “legal challenges of certain individuals and groups” could have been a factor in the level of flood damage seen in Whitechurch earlier this year.
“I think it’s important from us as councillors to highlight the real-world damage of the prevailing climate of NIMBYism, and that it does lead to real harm,” Cllr Edge said during the presentation.
“Are we able to say whether that could have been prevented had not the flood alleviation been delayed by that legal challenge?” he asked director of Climate Action Teresa Walsh.
Ms Walsh said that a full investigation into the cause of the Whitechurch stream flooding was being carried out, but that “it’s a fact the scheme was delayed by 21 months following a judicial review process”.
She noted that at times there were “other delays as well in terms of getting resources and particular materials”.
“We are currently carrying out a full investigation as to what exactly happened during that particular severe weather event, but it was definitely contributory, that particular area was 100 metres from being fully protected,” she said.
Ms Walsh estimated that works that are being carried out in that area “at the moment will be finished in June/July of this year and we would hope that they would be fully protected for a one-in-one-hundred-year event”.
“But we still have the matter under investigation,” she told councillors.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
