Some 20 years ago, an expert committee on climate change advised the government that rising sea levels and more intense winter storms involving heavy rainfall posed a growing threat to properties built in low-lying areas. It suggested a moratorium should be placed on further housing developments in locations at risk. The report was accepted. But, like our commitment to controlling the output of greenhouse gases under the terms of the Kyoto Agreement in 1990, very little was done. Until the Office of Public Works (OPW) unveiled a new flood hazard mapping website this week.
A great deal of work has gone into this project. And much of the material provided will form a valuable resource for planners, developers and would-be purchasers. But, to a large extent, the horse has already bolted. In the super-heated economic years of the Celtic Tiger, many developers built extensively on old flood plains and in vulnerable coastal areas and left the new owners to take their chances with the weather, water levels and concerned insurance companies.
In launching the new website, Minister of State Tom Parlon acknowledged that inappropriate developments had increased the risk of severe flooding. Part of the problem was that many flood plains had been built on during the past 15-20 years, he said, generating severe hardship locally and causing flooding elsewhere. "We cannot undo that damage," he observed, "but we shouldn't exacerbate it by having any further development in inappropriate areas."
The Minister was extraordinarily understanding of those public officials and elected representatives who zoned land for development in inappropriate areas by suggesting they had suffered a general loss of memory in relation to past flooding events. Only brown envelopes, rather than memory loss, could account for some of the dreadful planning decisions taken in those years.
As the OPW makes clear, the material supplied on its website is not a comprehensive catalogue of past flood events. The maps may not indicate flood hazard or flood extent because it has depended on local authorities and State bodies for information. In other words, the buyer should still beware. On a cursory inspection of the website, neither Westport nor Castlebar in Co Mayo reported flooding problems in the past, which is beyond belief. And there may be omissions elsewhere. The OPW has requested the public and other bodies to provide information that will help to develop and improve its database. It is an invitation that should be accepted in order to protect vulnerable people from greedy developers.