'There's a very simple answer - 'no' - Floodplains in Leitrim town and village can never be built on

A Leitrim councillor noted that it was brought to his attention that lands in Carrick and Dromod deemed to be floodplains have not flooded since 2010 despite heavy rainfall, leading him to ask the question if "the decision to say they are floodplains could be revisited and some of these lands could made available for much needed housing."

Cllr Stenson asked: "Is there any comeback from where lands were deemed floodplains. A lot of people said that floods back in 2009/10 were caused by opening and closing floodgates at Lough Allen. Can those lands be revisited and is there any chance that lands that are now deemed a floodplain can ever be deemed not a floodplain."

Bernard Greene, Senior Planner, said there was a "very simple answer. The answer is 'no'. 

He went on to say that the "modelling that was done was done by the OPW and based on a national programme which identified areas at risk of flooding and in Leitrim, there were a number of areas identified of which four of them were in the Carrick MD - Carrick-on-Shannon, Dromod, Leitrim Village and Mohill to a lesser extent. That was brought forward to the next layer of modelling which was done as part of the Catchment-based Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAMs); that reinforced,  based on the hydraulic modelling that was undertaken, the lands at risking of flooding."

He noted that a second, more sophisticated hydraulic modelling undertaken by Ryan Hanley Consultants, showed that "the flood extents have reduced but have actually increased. That brings lands in Carrick right up to the back of Main Road, brings in a lot of Bridge Street based on climate change and increased levels of rainfall that are being counted."

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Mr Greene said that Cllr Stenson identified that there was a perception that the 2009 event was caused by human error.

He said: "Any flood defence can fail so even if flood defences are put in place they are disregarded when it comes to zoning land for housing because they can fail. They also are unidentified for certain flood return. In the case of Carrick, Dromod, Mohill and Leitrim Village, that return is one in 100 so they will only work up to that level of a flood."

He added: "We're bound by the flood management guidelines and they are very clear - you disregard the existence of flood defences when it comes to zoning land."

Mr Greene said that because "people have never observed these areas flooding, that they're not likely to flood but it's about predicting and monitoring over time. I accept that landowners feel they've missed out. I lived in Dromod in 2015/16 and there were areas flooded for weeks so to say that there was no flooding events post-2009, isn't accurate."

He added: "There are exceptions. For example, all the land around Flynn's Field is at risk of flooding but we've brought that through a justification test; you couldn't leave that underdevelopment in your county town. You can make buildings flood resistant but can't have residents in upper floors, who, in the case of flooding, can't get out."

He said when a site is developed, you "change the whole surface water management regime and increase the rate of run-off by around ten fold and interfering whatever flood was been held in that site and it's now been displaced somewhere and may increase the risk of flooding to another property."