South Dublin flood risk should be ‘to the fore’ in planning decisions, councillor says

The potential for regular flooding in parts of south Dublin will have to be “to the fore” in future planning decisions, a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillor has said.

Cllr Peter O'Brien, who represents the Dundrum electoral area, was speaking after parts of Dundrum, Goatstown and Roebuck were left impassable on Saturday after heavy rain.

The Labour councillor paid tribute to council staff who worked quickly to clear gullies and address the flooding. He said bouts of heavy rainfall such as that seen on Saturday were becoming "less exceptional" and that residents and business owners faced "paying the price of bad planning from 15 or 20 years ago".

He said part of the river Slang, a tributary to the Dodder, had been diverted and built over to facilitate to construction of the Dundrum Town Centre. The centre was badly hit by flooding on Saturday, temporarily forcing some businesses to close. Most businesses were back operating as normal in the centre by Sunday afternoon.

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Mr O’Brien said the Slang river was noted for many years for bursting its banks and that this had played a role in serious flooding of the Dundrum area after heavy rain in 2011.

“Residents around Roebuck and Goatstown and business owners in Dundrum will have to be assured flood-alleviation works are to the fore when phase two of the strategic housing development for Dundrum comes before the council in the next few weeks,” he said.