SAVE OUR BRIDE OTTERS (SOBO) is a community group formed to campaign for a flood defense plan that will better protect the residents of Blackpool in Cork city and it's last remaining natural environment. 

 

The OPW have been granted ministerial consent to do extensive work on the River Bride in the area of Blackpool village, including putting the last remaining open part of the river in Blackpool underground into a concrete culvert.

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In the words of the OPW's own  Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) this will have a 'Permanent Significant Negative Impact' on the natural environment of this part of the river. 

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It is also home to 8 of Cork's most enigmatic residents, the Irish otter.

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There is a better solution

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SOBO contend that these works are unnecessarily expensive, and a better solution to prevent flooding in the Blackpool area could be achieved at a fraction of the cost by slowing down the flow in the river using nature-based temporary storage upstream and this would save the current wildlife oasis in the River Bride. 

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