COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
QUESTION NO. 30
QUESTION: Councillor E. Tuffy
To ask the Manager if he will provide a report on the works completed on the water supply infrastructure in and around Main Street, Lucan Village, if he will outline any consultations that took place with local business owners before the work commenced, and if he will report on the costs of the work and the source of funding?
REPLY:
The works carried out in 2011 in Lucan Main Street and Sarsfield Park were as part of the Dublin Region Watermains Rehabilitation Project - Contract 10. The project was managed by Dublin City Council. The pipelaying works were carried out by GMC Contractors and the Engineers on the project were RPS. All tie-ins to the Council's water network and shut offs to facilitate the works were carried out by South Dublin County Council's Water Section. The project team reports as follows:
1. Altogether 2.9km of watermains in the Ballydowd area of Lucan were replaced as part of the recent works carried out in the town. The works commenced in the residential area of Sarsfield Park / Dispensary Lane. 1.6km of watermain was replaced in these areas. Following this 1.3km of watermain was replaced in the commercial centre of Lucan from the Square through Main Street to the Old Hill. The mains in this area were selected for rehabilitation as they had reached the end of their functional life, and were exhibiting high leakage and burst rates. Had the watermains not been replaced their condition would have deteriorated rapidly over the coming years, resulting in frequent and unplanned interruptions to supply and large volumes of water loss.
2. Extensive consultation is always carried out with businesses and residents in advance of and during all Dublin Regional Watermains Rehabilitation Works. In February and March, in advance of works starting in Lucan, Project Information Packs were issued to all Councillors, businesses and residents in the area (300 Nr. issued). On the 21st March all the Commercial Customers in the above areas were visited by a member of the Project Customer Liaison Team. In each case, the business owner / manager (when present) was informed of the upcoming works and provided with contact details for the Project Team; contact details for further communication was obtained by the Project Team from each business owner / manager met. On the 6th April a business information meeting was held in conjunction with Lucan Chamber of Commerce. All Commercial Customers in the above areas were invited to send a representative. This meeting was well attended by the commercial interests in Lucan. A further 300 advance notification letters were issued two weeks prior to construction.
3. Construction Communications: Work on the Square / Main Street commenced on 3rd May. 48 hours in advance of water shuts all businesses affected were visited by a member of the Customer Liaison Team and personally advised that their water would be shut off and again provided with mobile phone numbers to contact the project team at any time. 1,155 Nr. 48 hour advance notifications of water shuts were issued to household and business customers during the works. Where possible water dependent business customers were given temporary water supplies so their businesses did not suffer from loss of water during the works. Regular contact was maintained at all times with business owners for the duration of the works in the Square / Main Street area. In addition, a press release was issued to local media in the area in advance of the works, that included a quote from the Mayor of South Dublin. Leaflets were distributed to householders and regular updates issued to motorists via AA Roadwatch.
4. Cost €612,000 (incl. VAT). The works are being 90% funded by Central Government via the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government's Water Services Investment Programme. The remaining 10% is being funded by South Dublin County Council.