Sandymount flood defences: ‘If I was given the Lego, it’s what I would do’

M ore than two decades since Sandymount in south Dublin was hit by extreme flooding , residents of the coastal suburb have finally been presented with plans to protect their homes from the sea. Dublin City Council has unveiled four options. The solutions include the use of walls up to 1.5m higher than the current coastal promenade; revetments, also known as rock armour or boulders extending up to 15m into the beach; a ribbon of concrete steps leading down to the sea; and adding sand to the beach.

Residents attending a recent event in Sandymount to showcase the options were largely positive, with many relieved the project was finally under way. But for a significant number, something was missing. “The key question, and I think you’ll find it’s what everyone is asking, is ‘where is the cycle lane?’” said one Tritonville Road resident. “You can be guaranteed they will do a beautiful job on the flood defences, and no sooner will it be in place they’ll be redoing it all to incorporate the cycle lane.

Put that in at the start.” The council found itself in a five-year legal battle with residents when its previous chief executive, Owen Keegan, proposed removing a lane of traffic from Strand Road, making the road one-way for vehicles and using the reclaimed space for a segregated two-way cycle route. Residents mounted a challenge to the plan and the High Court found in their favour. The Court of Appeal overturned that decision last year, paving the way for the council to introduce the cycle path.

Source: Dublin City Council Source: Dublin City Council However, the council has not yet pursued the on-road plan, and many locals hoped the cycle facilities would instead be incorporated into flood defences. “I would like to see an integrated plan where they have the cycleway, the walkway, what I call the rock armour – the revetments – projected out. It will restrict the view obviously, but, I think, would be the best solution,” said Adrian Gill, who lives in Farney Park.

Denis Kilty, who has recently moved to Sandymount, would have been happy with an on-road option, having previously lived in Dún Laoghaire where an extensive coastal path was built. “It is profoundly better. It’s quieter, it’s a much better place.” However, he said not incorporating the path into the flood defences “seems like a missed opportunity”. “If I was given the Lego, it’s what I would do.” [ Is it the airport or the M50? No, it’s Sandymount’s Strand Road Opens in new window ] Gilford Road resident Margaret Sinnott also questions the logic of not progressing the cycle lane in tandem with the defences.

“There is some sense now of things moving forward with the flood defences, but then there’s the issue of the bicycle track that doesn’t seem to be included, so does that mean starting all over again? I mean, how long is that going to take? Look at the children’s hospital .” Engineer Brian Hennelly, who is leading the flood defence project for Dublin City Council, said that although the cycle lane was not part of the project brief, he has started talks with the council’s traffic division with a view to incorporating a cycle scheme into the defences.

The cycle path issue aside, the primary concern for most was the level of protection provided. “I’ve never been flooded, but I’m living in the middle of the projected flood area, so it is quite emotional. There’s my son down the road; he’s in the same situation. House insurance is an issue for all of us,” says Sinnott. “If one option offered marginally better protection than another, I’d probably go for that, but I’m not clear: are they offering certainty against flooding?

It’s the unforeseen. The visuals are important, but I think the most awful concrete can be camouflaged with trees. It doesn’t have to be left looking disastrous.” Marco Newman moved to Sandymount about five years ago and lives just off the seafront. “We knew we were taking a risk buying here, but a calculated risk, because we looked at the areas that had flooded previously and we knew flood defences were coming.” Marco Newman moved to Sandymount about five years ago.

Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times He also references insurance costs, but says he has recently received good news on that front. “It was difficult to get flood insurance at the time, but they have changed their attitude in the insurance industry. We have just renewed our insurance, and it has come down from €1,300 to €600, which is excellent news.” Architect and environmentalist Duncan Stewart, who formerly presented RTÉ’s Eco Eye, says the narrow focus of the work is a concern.

“I think it’s very important we do this, but we have to do it around the full coast of Dublin; there’s no point in doing this here if we don’t.” Stewart fears the defences will not be sufficient to deal with the full gamut of climate change impacts. Architect and environmentalist Duncan Stewart says the narrow focus of the work is a concern. Photograph Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times “This is all right for overtopping waves, but it’s not going to deal with the big problem.

My biggest concern isn’t sea level rise, because that’s a gradual, fairly predictable thing, but it’s the storm surges we are ignoring, and storm surge comes from hurricanes. “The things that we have to be designing for, and they’re going to become much more extreme, more melt, and more extreme weather, along with more rainfall – all three are coming down the track,” he said. “The reality is, we’re in denial, and we’re going to look back and regret we didn’t put the actions in place now.”

David Reddy takes a more optimistic view. He holds an old black-and-white photograph of beachgoers at steps leading down to Sandymount Strand. In the same view today, fewer steps are visible. “I think mother nature has been making Sandymount less prone to flood in recent times, in that Sandymount Strand is silting up with sand. Along the main front here, the sand is now 1.5m higher than it was 60 years ago. “The volume of water that’s been blown on to the wall by the storms is tiny compared to the old days, and it goes back to the sea very quickly.”

More proactive clearing of leaves from drains could solve some of Sandymount’s problems, he said. “I think the proper maintenance of what’s there would be an immediate and huge help.” Source: Dublin City Council Source: Dublin City Council For Denis McKenna, who lives off Sandymount Avenue, the solution is not among those proffered by the council, but a somewhat radical departure. “They should build another road,” he says. “What they are trying to do here, I don’t feel it in my bones that it’s addressing the core issue.

“My solution is simple. Extend the green area out 50-100 yards, or whatever is deemed appropriate, landfill that, and beyond that put in a new road, and that will be your flood barrier. You’re not going to lose the visual of the sea, because it will be so far out, and you will have an enhanced green space – pucks of space – for recreation. You could have all the cycleways you want in the infill.” Public consultation is ongoing until November 26th, with a preferred option to be chosen early next year that could combine aspects of the four solutions.

If the preferred scheme is approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála, construction could start by the end of the decade.