New lobby group to push for long awaited west Mayo sewage treatment plant

A NEW lobby group has been established in Newport to advocate for a new sewage treatment plant for the town.

Raw sewage is flowing into Clew Bay, a situation that looks set to continue until 2030 at least.

Newport Sewage Concern Group aims to raise awareness about the ongoing discharge of untreated sewage into the bay, pressuring Uisce Éireann to fulfil its long-standing promise to build a sewage treatment plant.

The lobby group is operating under the umbrella of Newport Business Association and has shared photos on social media of the discharge in the local waters.

A post on the Newport Sewage Concern Group Facebook page explained: 'Newport is still waiting for its long promised and desperately needed water treatment facility. The continued delays in getting the facility built and operational are totally unacceptable.

'With that in mind and given we are now told the facility will not be built until 2030 at the earliest, our group has come together with the goal of getting our water treatment facility built and treating our water for once and for all.'

The group will be engaging with all of the bodies (including Uisce Eireann) who have the power to move the project on.

They have asked for community support, appealing to people to lodge complaints about the sewage they see in the Newport river/bay area with Uisce Eireann, detailing what they have seen, where is was, and to include photos.

There are a number of ways you can contact Uisce Eireannn to make a complaint: email operations@water.ie, phone 0818 778 778, or by post to Uisce Éireann, PO Box 860, South City Delivery Office, Cork City.

The statement added: 'We, as a group, are fully committed to seeing this vital project completed. We are very confident that we can work towards making this happen, just as we have previously done with other local projects. We will continue to advocate for this until it is done.'