Dublin chamber said the decision goes against the advice of engineers and will leave the Clontarf area exposed to flooding in years to come.
Business group Dublin Chamber has blasted the decision to reduce the height of a flood defence sea wall in Clontarf as “short-sighted”, “baffling” and “wasteful”.
The decision to reduce the height of the wall to a height that will no longer meet national flood protection standards was a taken at a meeting of Dublin City Council on Monday night, where it was passed by 34 votes to 21 with three abstentions.
The decision was taken in order to remove the obstruction of the sea view in Clontarf to passing motorists, with the construction of the wall having met with local opposition when it was constructed as part of a €5 million cycle path in 2017.
The area has been exposed to flooding on repeated occasions in the past, including as recently as 2011 and 2014, and Dublin Chamber CEO Mary Rose Burke described the decision to reduce the height of the wall as “baffling” and as “a kick in the teeth for other towns and cities in Ireland which are crying out for better flood defences”.
“The decision by Councillors to lower the wall height is baffling on a number of levels,” Burke said.
“Reducing the height means that the wall will no longer meet national flood protection standards and defies good and responsible planning. This demonstrates a real lack of joined-up thinking at Local Authority level. The decision is a clear example of why a serious overhaul of the governance of the Dublin region is required.”
“We saw in 2011 how real the threat of flooding is to Dublin,” Burke added.
“Since then, Dublin City Council has responded well to ensure that Dublin is equipped to cope in the future, as global warming leads to rising tides. This decision serves as a kick in the teeth for other towns and cities in Ireland which are crying out for better flood defences.
“While they wait for flood defences of their own, it must be galling for them to see Dublin Councillors wasting taxpayers’ money by un-doing work that has already been completed. This is a clear example of Councillors putting the interests of re-election ahead of the safety of the city and its people.”
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