Plans for Kildare bog rehabilitation welcomed

Public consultation has opened on the rehabilitation of two Kildare bogs - Lodge Bog, which is located between Allenwood South and Lullymore, and Timahoe South Bog, which is north of the old power station site in Allenwood.

Cllr Brendan Wyse said that in 2020, the Government announced a €108 million programme for bog rehabilitation across the country. Six Kildare bogs were included in the initial list of bogs approved by Minister Eamon Ryan including Lodge Bog and Tinahoe South Bog. Two more, Gilltown and Prosperous, have since been added to that list by Bord na Móna.
Consultation is already ongoing for Gilltown and Prosperous bogs, and members of the public are being asked to provide feedback on all of these plans.

Cllr Wyse lives on reclaimed grassland beside Lodge Bog, which in the 19th century was part of the larger Lullymore Bog. 

“I’ve been working from home for almost two years, and I go walking with my dog out in Lodge Bog most lunch times, so
I know the area very well," he said.

"There are lovely intact pieces of raised bog on most of the boundary, and in particular at the western edge, where there are 40 hectares of raised bog beside the site of the old Lullymore Monastery. Some of the western area was rewetted a few years ago and some efforts to breed Lapwing and Curlew are ongoing there as a result.”

He said the most recent Barrow Catchment Report from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that there is a risk of water quality not improving in the rivers of West Kildare due to the ongoing drainage of peatlands like Lodge Bog. Cllr. Wyse believes that the rehabilitation effort will reduce that risk.

“The drainage system in Lodge Bog includes silt ponds and pumps, and almost all rainwater that falls on this 400 hectares of cutaway bog ends up in the Slate River, which introduces contaminants to the river and causes local flooding in Ballyteague and Allenwood South from time to time. The planned rehabilitation will reduce these issues as soon as drain blocking begins.”

Cllr Wyse said he will be making submissions and encourages other local residents to have their say also.

“There are many potential uses for the Bord na Móna bogs following the end of peat production, but the amenity and educational value and the opportunities for improving biodiversity matter most to me, so I will be assessing the plans based on how they maximise these uses. Other residents should ensure that the plans take their views into consideration
also, by making their own submissions," he stated.