River Vartry Protection Society

Oral Hearing on River Vartry against Irish Water

We have the Oral Hearing on June 12th, 13th and 14th at the Glenview Hotel, Glen of the Downs (if it takes the full 3 days).

This is very important that we have support on the days to see Irish Water do right by the River Vartry.

We know people work and for many it will be hard to take time off, but even if you can only drop in one of the days, it would be some support. We will be there from 11:00 to 17:00 on the 12th, 9:30 – 17:00 on the 13th and 14th.

We are as prepared as we can be and are very hopeful that An Bord Pleanála will see it our way and send Irish Water back to Wicklow County Council for a full independent EIA. We have a few surprises for them, so don’t miss it.

We want to see the NEW, (not UPGRADED as Irish Water prefer to call it), Water Treatment Plant is built, but want proper care taken of the environment, the river and the salmon. We hope to screen a short film of the River, never before seen, of huge salmon in vast numbers coming up the river for the spawn. It show how important our Mighty Little River Vartry is to the EU, Ireland and ourselves and the importance for us to build a State of the Art WTP showing that in Ireland we take care of our environment, not destroy it.

We hope to see you there.

Draft River Basin Management Plan Now Out

The Draft River Basin Management Plan is now published and is a comprehensive view of Environmental Issues. This is a different approach as in the past. This is now just an overview of how Ireland intends to protect the Environment in accordance with EU Directives. This should be the most important overall document in Ireland dealing with Rivers, Water and all aspects of the Environment and how it affects these resources. This time the Plan has been divided into two parts, the first is an overview and has “no Teeth”, although being a good summary of what needs looking at. The Second part, not yet written, is the individual Basin Plans which should protect us. This part is up to us to make the Department of the Environment aware of our concerns and see that the River Vartry is cared for properly.

RBMP FORM

The main issues that are of concern that you should address in your form are

• Water Treatment Abstraction
• Water Treatment Discharge
• Water Treatment Pollution

Remember, numbers count so see that your voice is heard.