Following the transfer of the responsibility of the Management of Arklow Harbour to Wicklow County Council in January 2012, Wicklow County Council has endeavored to progress the proposed Arklow Dredging Scheme.
Due to the nature of work involved in this scheme i.e. removing material from the Avoca River and replacement of this material at a site offshore , Wicklow County Council was statutorily required to obtain a Foreshore Licence for these dredging works.
In February of this year a Foreshore Licence Application was lodged with the Foreshore Unit, the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government which is based at Newtown Road, Wexford. The Foreshore Licence Application process became quite problematic, mainly due to legislative clarifications. The delay in the receipt of the Foreshore Licence prevented the commencement of the dredging contract , which originally had been envisaged to start in June of this year.
“On 15th August 2013 Wicklow County Council was delighted to be informed that Minister of State, Ms. Jan O’Sullivan had given her Ministerial Approval of the Foreshore Licence, ” announced wicklow.ie.
Earlier this year the Department of Transport, Sport and Tourism allocated funding of €3,588,000 to Wicklow County Council for capital works in Arklow Harbour, which included funding for the Arklow Dredging Scheme and other Remedial Works .
Wicklow County Council has requested that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, in conjunction with the Department of Finance, grant the funding required for this scheme for the fiscal year 2014. Once the funding is in place for 2014 , Wicklow County Council will proceed with the contract for this essential scheme for Arklow Harbour in May/June 2014.
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Press Release, August 29, 2013