‘Ease rules on stoves and fireplaces’ plea from councillors

Storm damage and after effects discussed at county council meeting

Future storms will all carry the threat of further disruption to electricity, water, and communications systems, and Westmeath County Council needs to start planning for that, elected members have told the executive.

Suggestions voiced during the January meeting of the council, held three days after the storm, included improved tree management, a ban on the erection of power lines within 20 metres of trees, and relaxation of the policies steering people away from the installation of fireplaces or stoves within their homes.

The discussion saw, also, praise for the work done by Westmeath County Council and the ESB, but some criticism of eir and Uisce Éireann.

Cllr Ken Glynn remarked that the storm had affected “just about everywhere”, and he commended the ESB and also the council staff – particularly the outdoor teams – for the “unbelievable” job they had done.

However, he continued, what is needed now is to look at ways of preventing some of the issues that had arisen during this particular storm from happening again: “We are not in control of power outages, but we can certainly play a role in preventing them in terms of the amount of trees that are collapsing on lines,” he said.

He said a study may need to be done to examine if trees have been left loosened by the storm.

Cllr Vinny McCormack praised the ESB and council teams but was disappointed with both eir and Uisce Éireann, saying their response was not “up to scratch” when compared with that of the council and the ESB.

He was also somewhat disappointed that the elected members had not been notified that the council coordination centre was being set up, because it would have streamlined the reporting process.

Cllr Denis Leonard backed Cllr McCormack’s comments on eir and Irish Water, and also his view that elected members should have been notified in advance about the coordination centre, as when the crisis happened, councillors had no access to emails, to phone services or electricity so they could neither be made aware of its existence, nor generally get word to the council about the issues in their areas.

He said a coordination group is needed to decide a policy on roadside trees, and also, that the ESB should also be asked to review the quality of some of its lines, and to review Powercheck, which he felt is not up to standard.

Cllr Tom Farrell was also deeply concerned about the danger from roadside trees, and he felt the entire issue needed to be considered by the council’s transport SPC, and that farmers needed to be brought on board for the discussion. He said his information from ESB sources was that 70 per cent of the outages were due to fallen trees.

Cllr David Jones wanted each member of the council response staff personally notified of the councillors’ thanks, and went on to call for a meeting between the ESB, the IFA and all relevant departments to discuss the tree issue.

Cllr Alfie Devine said planning permissions should include a condition that power lines not be erected within 20 metres of a tree: “We need to look seriously at where the lines are, and put corridors into for these lines through forests or wherever they are, a minimum of 20 metres from any tree. It’s a simple fix.”

Cllr Devine went on to state that when he tries to get answers from Irish Water, he’s told they are not supposed to talk to him. He said he believes that the pressure from the reservoir in Collinstown, which feeds most of north Westmeath, is being reduced almost every night and every weekend.

Cllr Johnnie Penrose supported calls for action on trees – “and it has to be done fairly quickly,” he said, saying that in the next storm, even more damage will be done as so many trees have been loosened in the ground.

He also expressed sympathy for people who had no access to open fires while the power was off, and felt the policy of building houses without chimneys needed to change.

Cllr Emily Wallace also questioned the wisdom of building houses that aren’t equipped to cope without power. “That is something that we really need to address,” she said.

“We are not self sustainable. A lot of people couldn’t cook. You wonder why bread is gone off the shelves, and it was funny, but it’s not… because the reality is they have no means to cook or put on a pan of boiling water, so they’re living on sandwiches for the last couple of days.”

Cllr Aoife Davitt suggested that one item not being mentioned was the loss of heritage: “There are stunning trees that form part of our history in the area, and unfortunately, the heritage of the hundreds of years that they have been there in our locality have been lost, and the landscape is very different for people,” she said.

Cllr John Dolan extended thanks to all in the emergency services, and local community centres and sports clubs that opened to allow people charge phones.

He went on to state that as he is involved in dairying, he had bought a generator for his farm, and it cost €5,000 “and runs most things”: he could not understand why there was not a generator at each water treatment plant.

Cllr Niall Gaffney pressed for recognition of the fact that when the power is cut, so too does access to water. He felt the council should prepare and be ready to “fill those gaps” when those situations arise. He also felt that when water tankers are going to an area, word should also be spread to those on private water schemes or using wells.

Cllr Andrew Duncan expressed concern about an electricity infrastructure, that was relying on “antiquated ivy-strewn telegraph poles”, and he had misgivings about the value of wind energy as a resource during such times as those of Storm Éowyn. He also felt there should be back-up systems in houses.

“If you can have a small working stove or fireplace, at least you have heat,” he said.

The cathaoirleach, Cllr Liam McDaniel, was impressed at the spirit of neighbourliness demonstrated in his own area and further afield, as those who had power and water invited others in to cook or shower if they wished.

He was happy there was a coordination group set up, but said that the problem for people in many areas was that they could not receive any communication: “I couldn’t get Facebook, I couldn’t get a phone call. So I don’t know how we communicate to people out there who are in that situation,” he said, going on to wonder also if there should not be grants made available to enable people to buy generators.

He also pointed out that thanks to the colour-coded alert system, people had been aware ahead of time that the storm was coming.