Council commences emergency coastal defence works in Portrane

Fingal County Council is set to carry out emergency works in Portrane including the relocation of Seabees at Burrow beach, following on from recent rock armour works completed at Quay Road. 

The works are required following the recent removal and relocation of the seabees.

During 2018 and 2019 and as an interim measure, 1km of Seabee’ concrete units were installed in an optimal position in two phases along Burrow Beach.  These Seabees were designed to reduce and delay coastal erosion and were put in place approximately 10m from the dune face until a feasible and effective long-term solution is implemented.

Fingal County Council plans to relocate 70 seabees which were recently moved without authorisation causing damage to the dune system at Beach Lane.  In addition Fingal County Council’s expert engineers have undertaken a review of current survey data and assessed the current optimal position of the Seabees in order to continue to reduce and delay coastal erosion.  Given the changing alignment of the dunes, some of the Seabees will be relocated inland to maintain the original design.

The remedial works outlined above will commence this week and will take approximately three weeks.

Note to Editor

In 2016, Fingal County Council established The Fingal Coastal Liaison Group in response to the ongoing concerns in relation to Coastal Erosion and Coastal Flooding in Fingal and to meet the need for a coherent structured response to address these concerns and improve communication between relevant stakeholders. The Group provides a forum for discussion of the approaches to planning for and dealing with the problems of Coastal Erosion and Flooding and is made up of County Councillors, Council Officials and community members from each of the affected areas in Fingal which are Rush (North Beach and South Beach), Portrane and Sutton.

Coastal flooding and erosion along the Rogerstown Estuary, which is an environmentally sensitive area and a Special Area of Conservation, is proving to be a difficult problem to resolve. The coastal system around the Rogerstown Estuary is intricate due to the large difference between high and low tides and the damage that waves, which approach from different angles, can cause. This threat has been increased significantly in recent years by the number of major storms that have coincided with high tide water levels in excess of four metres. 

Fingal County Council is working in collaboration with relevant state agencies, including the Office of Public Works (OPW) and The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), to examine the options available to address the complex problem of coastal flooding and erosion in Portrane and Rush.

Expert engineers have prepared a plan outlining the options for addressing Coastal Flood Risk Management in the Rogerstown Estuary in response to the significant concerns regarding coastal erosion and coastal flooding in the Burrow Peninsula, Portrane and some of the coastal areas around Rush.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, TD, recently established the National Coastal Change Management Strategy Steering Group which has been tasked with considering the development of an integrated, whole of Government, coastal change strategy and is due to report to Government within six months of its establishment with initial findings and recommendations.

The Rogerstown Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Management Plan can be viewed at https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/coastal-defence-proposals-portrane-rush.

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