Swimming pool plan hits stumbling block
PLANNING permission for the flagship swimming pool project at Balbriggan Rugby Club has hit a stumbling block after council officials asked for more information regarding the drainage and water supply system on the site.
The council has written to Swimworld Investments Ltd, the company behind project requesting additional information on a number of aspects of the project. The proposed development includes not only a swimming pool, but a sports hall, private gym, athlete's training centre, a two-storey rugby club house, 175 parking spaces and various landscaping works. The council has asked for clarification from the applicants about the opening hours of both the sports hall and the club house and for clarification on whether or not, a crèche will be operated out of the sports hall.
The local authority also wants to see a mobility management plan for the site indicating how traffic and pedestrians will enter and exit the site and whether or not it will be served by public transport.
The council's water services department outlined a number of concerns about the project and has advised the applicants that Balbriggan's foul drainage network is at full capacity and that capacity will not increase until 2012.
That means that 'for any application to proceed', the water services department must be satisfied that there is an 'acceptable interim arrangement compatible with the final drainage solution, which is environmentally sustainable and does not pose a risk to public health'. The department has outlined the need to protect groundwater on the site and submit a flood risk assessment for the site.
