Winter flooding fears with appeal to clean rivers in Mayo

FARMS and homes will be flooded this winter as no one is listening to appeals to have rivers cleaned, a west Mayo councillor has warned.

Citing the Carrowniskey River in his area, Louisburgh Councillor Chris Maxwell said land owners want rid of encroaching tress, which are causing flooding.

Recently farmers were told about proposals for along the river - it wasn't cutting bushes, but planting willow, and farmers couldn't believe what they were listening to, he told a meeting of Mayo County Council.

The mouth of the river is blocked off but gravel can't be removed because of waders nesting, he continued.

And down in Westport, on the Mayour River, ducks can't land in it as it is so closed in.

On the Erriff River, farmers land was covered in silt and sand from the mountains after Storm Éowyn. They cleared it, piling it up, and later got permission to remove it. However, two days in the contractor was stopped by a different agency, with farm payments put in jeopardy.

Councillor Maxwell said they can't go into another winter with the rivers not cleaned.

He called for the fisheries, NPWS and other agencies to be brought into a meeting to put forward a plan and deal with the issue.

“No one is listening,” he said, warning that farms and homes will be flooded while roads are being destroyed.

“It is time action was taken.”