Fresh consultation sought on Ennistymon-Lahinch wastewater treatment plant - Clare Echo

A CALL has been made for another round of public consultation on plans for a wastewater treatment plant serving Ennistymon and Lahinch amid concerns over communication with the local community.

*Cllr Bill Slattery (inset) and Cllr Shane Talty brought a motion before the WCMD on the proposed plant

The West Clare Municipal District has agreed to formally write to Uisce Éireann requesting a new non-statutory public consultation before any further significant steps or decisions are taken on the project.

The joint Notice of Motion was brought forward by Ennistymon councillors Bill Slattery (FG) and Shane Talty (FF) at the September meeting of the West Clare MD.

The councillors said a fresh consultation was needed “in the interest of public confidence in the project”.

The request follows concerns raised by councillors and landowners over the proposed location of the new treatment plant and associated infrastructure.

Uisce Éireann previously held a four-week non-statutory consultation on the project from May 28 to June 25, 2025.

The utility says that consultation has now closed and that feedback received will be considered by the project team and included in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report submitted with the planning application.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Slattery said there had been very little communication from Uisce Éireann about where the plant was going to be located.

He referred to a non-statutory consultation meeting in May 2025 where maps were shown identifying areas where the plant and access routes “may” be considered.

Cllr Slattery said there had been no indication at that stage that the route and surveys would subsequently focus on lands at Calluragh.

He said the lack of information had created “anxiety” and misinformation in the community.

Cllr Slattery said councillors had not received a detailed explanation of why Calluragh had been selected or the full rationale behind the focus on the area.

Cllr Talty said two landowners had received registered letters from Uisce Éireann seeking access to survey their lands after previously declining requests.

He said the landowners had brought the issue to the attention of neighbours and that the lands now being considered fell outside the scope of what had previously been presented to them.

Cllr Talty said the situation was “turning the community against public representatives” and that lifelong friendships had been affected.

He said there had been a lack of transparency and “half truths” and called for Uisce Éireann to return to the community for a meaningful conversation.

Cllr Talty said residents needed clarity on why the proposed plant could not be located adjacent to the existing plant, which he suggested would be “far easier” for the locality.

He contrasted that with the proposal to pump wastewater around 6.5km from Ennistymon to Calluragh, describing the change as a “fairly seismic change”.

Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) supported the motion and called for greater engagement with the community, saying the local knowledge held by landowners and residents was “so important”.

Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) described the situation as a “massive democratic deficit”.

“We may not be rocket scientists but we are elected to give people views,” he said.

Cllr Garrihy said there was an “absolute urgent need and demand” for the wastewater treatment project to proceed but argued that communication with elected representatives and the public needed to improve.

Cllr Michael Shannon (FF), Cathaoirleach of the West Clare MD, said the wastewater project should be a “good news story” given the infrastructure was badly needed.

He said there should have been two or three meetings before the project reached its current stage and that greater engagement and sensitivity were needed.

Responding to the motion, A/Senior Engineer Paddy Tiernan said the MD would write to Uisce Éireann requesting a further non-statutory consultation once the request had been agreed by members.

He said councillors finding out information “second hand” was “terrible”, but acknowledged that the council could only request further engagement and could not force the utility to hold another consultation.

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