Collinstown wastewater plant upgrade timeline questioned

Collinstown is urgently in need of an upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant, a local councillor has claimed.

The issue was raised by Cllr Emily Wallace at the February meeting of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, where she sought an update on any sewage capacity expansions for the area.

Cllr Wallace said Environmental Protection Agency records show the plant at Collinstown has had two uncontrolled releases in the last 18 months and is non-compliant. In a written response, district officials stated that, under Irish Water protocol, the query had been forwarded to the local representative support desk and that a formal written reply would issue directly to the councillor.

Expressing disappointment at the response, Cllr Wallace said she had yet to receive correspondence from Irish Water but understood that the timeframe previously indicated for a new treatment plant was 2030. She noted that as far back as 2014, a proposed housing development in the area could not proceed because the plant did not have the capacity to take the additional load. Collinstown, she said, was not the only area in Westmeath facing wastewater capacity issues, describing it as a matter of “huge concern”.

“There are even areas where sewage and wastewater are coming up in houses and gardens,” she said. “I know the council’s hands are tied – you can’t do anything until Irish Water gives the go-ahead – but it is not good enough because it is people on the ground that this is affecting.”

Cllr Alfie Devine supported her call, saying he had spent two years engaging with Irish Water in an effort to have the Collinstown plant upgraded.

He said that initial indications were that works would not take place until after 2030, potentially pushing the timeline into the 2040–2050 period. Following several meetings over the last 18 months, he said Irish Water had agreed to bring forward the upgrade.

“We have a letter to state that the wastewater treatment plant will be upgraded in the next two years,” Cllr Devine said, indicating the works could now take place in 2026 or 2027.