No wastewater connections are available to accommodate 30 planned housing developments across Newry and Armagh
Proposals are currently being considered by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and a range of developments of various types and size.
But regardless of the outcome of the applications, the infrastructure does not exist to connect them to the public wastewater system.
And at the same time, 13 housing developments already given the go-ahead have no access either. Investment is being planned in the Newry area which, it is hoped, will help.
But for other parts – including Armagh – making such a connection to the wastewater infrastructure “is an issue”.
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins provided a detailed update in response to a question from Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty.
The SDLP representative had sought information on the number of applications for housing developments – both approved and in the pipeline – which were “urrently stalled due to a lack of wastewater treatment capacity”.
And Mr McNulty asked that interventions were being planned by NI Water or Department of Infrastructure “to unlock development in the Newry and Armagh constituency”.
The Minister explained the management of public wastewater infrastructure was an operational matter for NI Water and had sought a direct update from them.
Having confirmed the numbers, Minister Kimmins said: “NI Water is now assessing those housing development and approved planning applications, which are in the Newry catchment, to determine if the £26m investment in the Newry catchment will now permit a connection.
“NI Water has recently set out proposals to unlock wastewater capacity within the Newry catchment through an innovative and collaborative approach, which has the potential to permit connection of up to 400 homes within the Newry catchment through a £26m investment.
“This planned work will not remove all the wastewater capacity constraints, but it will permit NI Water to reopen the Newry wastewater catchment and to achieve connections, that it had previously advised were not possible.
“However, developer funded solutions may also still be required and NI Water is now undertaking a review and assessment of all wastewater impact assessment applications previously received for the Newry catchment and has advised that, in most cases, it expects the reassessment will permit a wastewater connection, albeit with some level of developer intervention.
“NI Water is also examining if similar methods can be used to unlock capacity in other areas, including Armagh, where getting a wastewater connection is an issue.”
In addition, the Minister said she would continue to develop a ‘three-pronged approach’ already in place.
She added: “Firstly, I will work with Executive colleagues to ensure appropriate investment for NI Water, secondly, my Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill that was recently introduced in the Assembly, will make provision for future regulations on sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), which will help to store stormwater, so that it releases slower into the wastewater network and thirdly, my Department has consulted on options to introduce developer contributions to help fund wastewater infrastructure improvements.
“That consultation has now closed and responses are currently being considered, with a view to publishing a consultation responses report in the coming weeks.”
