Archive for October, 2009
October 22nd, 2009 -- Posted in Active, Threats |
A proposed Breaker’s Yard sought an Exemption from Planning Permission to locate this within 25 meters of the River Vartry, Broadlough and the Murrough. This was approved by WCC without full diligence regarding current Planning Laws. This may mean that we will have to go to An Bord Pleanála to get this reversed, although we are pursuing other avenues with the Friends of the Murrough. (Cooperation with the Friends of the Murrough is one of the results of the meeting of the River Vartry Protection Society).
In order to operate, they need an Environment Permit where there is opportunity to object up until the 30th of October. If anyone wishes to object, can they call me on 087-2561074 and I will help. The ground of objection are Sound Pollution, Sight Pollution, and a great likelihood of seepage into the River both though the soil and due to runoff both in storm and normal conditions. As well, some of the byproducts are hazardous waste and there is not sufficient information to assess whether these will be handled properly.
This is a new and surprise Threat and we had hope that we could improve the conditions on the Murrough to make it less heavy industrial not increase it. This is against the River Basin Management Plans for the Area and should be stopped. We would like to see the Murrough one day be a good and friendly place for tourists, not a place of noise and scrap.
October 13th, 2009 -- Posted in Active, Wildlife |
A local person who has lived in the area for about 20 years brought up some more issues which we could consider as part of the river preservation. He feels that the river level is more related to Wicklow CoCo taking water via pipes in the dryer summer months, as opposed to the reservoir – he believes that the water level in summer is impacted mostly by this.
Removal of trees from watercourse – last time this was done after the storms, when it was too late. There’s a good chance this will happen again. There’s a lot of heavy timber in the water around Devils Glen. This is something we could easily sort out, and we could arrange a work party to remove this.
Removal of trees from river banks needs to be managed as it impacts on otters.
Mink population wipes out the fish, and they need to be trapped. There’s definitely mink in Devils Glen, but not sure of overall population on river. When mink are removed, the otters move back in.
Conifers planted too close to watercourse drop leaves and that makes the water too acidic.
October 5th, 2009 -- Posted in Administration |
The meeting was a great success and I personally would like to thank all of you for participating. There were over 40 people there, which considering there were a lot of people who had to cancel at the last moment, was a fantastic show of commitment and support.
We talked about a Historical Approach to getting more water in the river and a Scientific Approach towards monitoring and enforcing EU Regulations. This did spark interest and the consensus was to continue to pursue these and increase the effort.
This is a unique body of neighbours which I believe has never been assembled before. The joining of forces of Riparian Owners and Surrounding Neighbours joining together to protect the river. A corridor of safety to the habitat and River which flows though all of our area. The shared Rights and Responsibilities of Riparian Owners were discussed and the basis of this in Common law which can dictate how we would like the River to Remain.
We will be producing a summary of the meeting but in general there were several important points.
There were volunteers to make up a small steering group that will help administrate.
There is a volunteer to help with grants and grant applications who is a professional in this field, and has already reached out to help.
There is a member will be investigating whether there is a University that might be interested in conducting some research for us.
October 1st, 2009 -- Posted in Ecology |
The River Vartry Protection Society welcomes its members and selected guests to the first meeting of the Society at Hunters Hotel, tonight Thursday the 1st of October at 8 PM. All members are welcome to an evening of meeting, discussion and talk about the future, the past and the present efforts to protect the River.
October 1st, 2009 -- Posted in Active, Threats |
The Wicklow County Council has denied permission to Michael Ryan on a proposed development near Nun’s Cross bridge on the basis that they have not decided how to develop the area AA9 designated in the Ashford Area Plan and granting permission would be premature. This development threatened both the River and the Nun’s Cross Bridge, suggesting that they would deposit unfiltered runoff from the development directly into the River. The method proposed was to drill into the 1700’s arch of the Bridge. This was opposed by many residents as will as the River Vartry Protection Society so we are pleased that the WCC supported our position, denying permission.