Galway County Council has granted planning permission for a major upgrade to the sewer network serving Athenry town.
Irish Water intends to decommission and replace a large amount of sewerage pipes in town, as well as the Caheroyn pumping station.
A Natura Impact Assessment was submitted with the planning application, and an Archaeological Assessment of the area was also later carried out at the request of the council.
Athenry is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Ireland, with much of the original walls still intact, and other protected sites such as the castle and Dominican Abbey.
Planning permission was ultimately granted by the county council with 13 conditions attached, including strict archaeological monitoring of the works.
Test excavations must also be carried out before work begins, at locations to be chosen by a suitably qualified architect.
Sewer Network upgrades
The project will involve decommissioning the existing combined sewer overflow at North Gate street in the town centre, and replacing the sewers from the Cuirt Ard/Caheroyan Road junction to the Caheroyan Pumping Station.
That pumping station is to be decommissioned and completely removed, and a new station will be built adjacent to Pairc na hAbhainn housing estate.
New sewers starting at North Gate will be laid to the new pumping station, as will a new sewer from the site of the decommissioned station, both of which will cross the River Clarin.
A rising main will go from the new pumping station to the Athenry Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The “package wastewater treatment plant” currently on the site of the new pumping station will be removed, and a new sewer laid from the small estate in Raheen, passing through Presentation College and Clarin College sites to connect to the Athenry Wastewater Treatment Plant.
