Posted on July 20, 2022
Preliminary work has begun on the major environmental job of removing hundreds of tonnes of silt from Crescent Quay in Wexford which was this week branded a “serious eyesore” by County Council chairman George Lawlor.
Cllr Lawlor told a Wexford Borough District Council meeting that he understands it is an extremely complex task in terms of how the silt can be removed and what will be done with it afterwards but he asked for a time frame of when the work could be carried out.
“It is a serious eyesore and it is getting worse. We really need to do something about it”, he said, adding that he met some visitors at Crescent Quay recently who were wondering why it is in such a state.
The silting problem is detracting from the look of the Crescent which underwent infrastructural improvements to the tune of a €2.2 million in an urban regeneration project supported by the EU and completed about 18 months ago.
Acting Director of Services Brian Galvin said there are various issues and statutory considerations that need to be addressed before any work can be carried out in the harbour, including a Natura Impact Survey (NIS) and an Appropriate Assessment.
The main issue is disposing of the dredge sediment, whether it can go to landfill or can be licensed for depositing at sea. This requires a comprehensive amount of analysis and site investigation works, hydrographic surveys and a sediment survey.
The contract for these investigations has been awarded and the work is currently being carried out. Mr Galvin said he expects that the surveys will be completed by the end of September and it will be nine to 12 months after that before the statutory applications can be made to carry out the actual work.
