Bray Town Council

The River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme is required to protect both property, but more importantly lives in Little Bray. The combination of the low lying nature of Little Bray vis a vis the River Dargle, the large number of single storey houses, and the presence of a large proportion of elderly people living in these houses, makes this a high risk area. When fully implemented, the Flood Defence Scheme will greatly reduce the risk of flooding in the town of Bray and thus improve public safety and protect public and private property.

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Update on River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme-July 2011

A statement from Minister Brian Hayes, Minister of State with special responsibility for Public Service Reform and the Office of Public Works (Department of Finance), in response to a parliamentary question, outlines that the OPW are currently undertaking a review of their Capital Expenditure and a decision on the provision of funding for the Bray Flood Relief Scheme will be made following completion of this review. An extract from this response is provided below:

 Statement from Minister Brian Hayes:-

"The Office of Public Works is currently undertaking a review of its Capital expenditure profile to 2016 in light of the Government’s intention to prepare a new capital investment framework over this period in order to identify projects that will best support economic recovery. A decision on the provision of funding for the Bray flood relief scheme will be made following the completion of this review."

 Bray Town Council have been advised that the OPW Capital Expenditure Review will be carried out in September 2011 and that a decision with regard to funding will be made sometime after that. The impact of the review is that the scheme will not start until May 2012 at the earliest.

It is likely that Bray Town Council will undertake some further tree clearance and routine maintenance in the Autumn, to reduce the impact of any flood events over the winter months.

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Report on Physical Model Study of the River Dargle

This is a report of the various flood simulations carried out at HR Wallingford, the leading authority for simulations of this size, on a scale model of the Dargle River, that was generously funded by the Office of Public Works.  The report and tests confirm that the flood scheme approved by An Bord Pleanala is fit for purpose, and though the mathematical model that the EIS was based on showed the scheme would give protection for a one in a hundred year storm, the scale physical model shows the scheme will give protection for a one in three hundred year storm. 

Report on the Physical Model: PDF

Environmental Impact Statement and the Compulsory Purchase Order

Bray Town Council has made a compulsory purchase order and has prepared an environmental impact statement in respect of the River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme. This a major step towards protecting the town from flooding.

There is a history of the lowlying area of Little Bray mainly due to the River Dargle over topping the river banks in times of high rainfall. This has occurred four times in the last century.

Bray Town Council has in the past sought funding for the improvement of the carrying capacity of the river channel through the urban area and the installation of flood defences remains a priority.

Having examined a range of possibilities a scheme which consists of widening/deepening the river channel and providing containment structures along the river bank has been designed.

This scheme has merged so as to minimise the environmental impacts and maintain links between the residential areas and the river banks.

The scheme is designed to protect the town from the effects of severe high tides and severe river floods.

The proposed works involve regrading sections of the river bed. Also sections of the river channel will be widened so as to lower the flood water level in times of high flows.

It is still necessary to increase the height of walls and embankments in some locations and these measures are also being proposed.

Full landscaping of the disturbed areas is also included in the scheme.

In order to carry out the scheme as proposed it is necessary for Bray Town Council to have complete access to all required lands and thus a Compulsory Purchase Order has been prepared.

The proposed scheme which runs from the N11 to Bray Harbour and is 2.75 km in length, potentially affects 25 landowners. In most cases the impact on private property will be minimal. The scheme proposed is unlikely to have any major affect on the Peoples Park. Access to parts of the park will be restricted during the course of the works, which could take up to two years. The council will carry out improvements to the park as part of the overall scheme. Improvements under consideration include a new playground, a river walk, and an area for French boules.

Three Rights of Way are proposed for extinguishment.

• Part of Ravenswell Road is required for widening the river channel.
• From Bray Bridge to Seapoint Court, the Right of Way will be relocated.
• From Bray Bridge to the Peoples Park, the Right of Way is proposed to be replaced at a high level.

In order to assist anyone wishing to make a submission to An Bord Pleanala, Bray Town Council’s team of consultants will give a presentation highlighting the key issues in the Environmental Impact Statement on Wednesday 1st August, 2007 at 7.30 p.m. in the Town Hall, Main Street, Bray.

Further details / information:

Compulsory Purchase Order Advertisement: PDF

Environmental Impact Statement Advertisement: PDF

Environmental Impact Statement

• Cover, inside cover
• Table of contents
• Non-technical summary
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
  • Section 5.1 Section 5.2
  • Section 5.3
  • Section 5.4
  • Section 5.5
  • Section 5.6
  • Section 5.7
    • Landscape drawings
  • Section 5.8
  • Section 5.9
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Appendices
  • Appendix A
  • Appendix B: Terrestrial Ecology
  • Appendix C: Aquatic Egology
  • Appendix D: Fisheries Report, maps
  • Appendix E: Soils
  • Appendix F: Noise
  • Appendix G: Tree Survey
  • Appendix H: Photomontages

River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme Presentations:

To coincide with the making of the CPO and the publication of the EIS,  on Wednesday 1st August 2007, the consultants for the scheme made a public presentation which will be available shortly.

On Tuesday 13th March 2007, the consultants for the River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme made a presentation to the members of Bray Town Council. The three parts of this presentation are available below:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Following on from the second Public Consultation Day in relation to the River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme the six options are outlined below in the presentation made on the 6th November 2006:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

All documents are in PDF Format, and you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them