COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF TERENURE-RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE (2)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

HEADED ITEM NO. 8

Report on Greenhills allotments

REPLY:

In response to a Motion (13) which was passed by the Committee at the Terenure Rathfarnham Area Committee meeting in September the following report has been received from the Senior Executive Engineer, Water Maintenance regarding provision of water to the Allotments on Greenhills Road.

‘The allotments in question are not managed by the Council and are not located on Council land. The cost of a Council allotment is €48 p.a. which includes an amount for water usage. In addition Council allotments holders usually have to travel to their allotment making it difficult for them to transport water, whereas the allotments at Greenhills are used by people living nearby.

The Local Area Inspector has examined the location and has reported that there are two available mains from which a connection could be given to these allotments. The nearest would involve laying approximately 50m in the laneway and a further 20m in the allotment area to get the service to a secure area, ie the container.  This work, including excavation, laying the service and reinstatement would normally be carried out by a Contractor on behalf of the person/persons requiring the water supply and all costs in this regard would be borne by the applicants.  The Council would carry out the actual connection of the service to the main and supply of a meter at a cost of €550.  

The Senior Executive Engineer estimates that the cost of excavation, laying of main and reinstatement, based on rates from the Water Maintenance Minor Works List 2008-2009 would be in the region of €16,000.  This estimate is based on a 1m width of reinstatement in the laneway.  However, the Roads Department may require a wider reinstatement, possibly up to the full width of the lane which would increase the cost by about €10,000.There is no funding available in the Budget for this expenditure.

Under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) the Council is obliged to meter and charge for all water supplied, other than domestic only, on a volumetric basis.  The current charge for water supplied to non-domestic sector is €1.79 per cubic metre.