Plans have been submitted for the construction of 21 homes in Newry with a “hope” the proposal can be connected to the mains sewage system, despite NI Water’s recent network capacity issues in the city.
The application was submitted to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council in the name of Samuel and Kathleen Gordon and relates to lands on Rathfriland Road in the small townland of Sheeptown.
The applicants are seeking full permission to erect 20 two-storey semi-detached and one detached home on the site, which lays approximately 25m North East of 111 Rathfriland Road.
A Planning Statement accompanying the application explains that the homes will offer a “degree of variety” across three different house types on a range of plot sizes and with various layouts.
It adds that the site ear-marked for development is classed as “un-zoned white-land” within the development boundary and therefore suitable – in principle – for residential development.
However, there are some “minor physical constraints” at play.
One of these factors includes NI Water’s “network capacity issues” in Newry and the intention for this development to be connected to the existing mains sewage system.
The statement explains: “…an early Pre Development Enquiry to NI Water indicated that NI Water is experiencing network capacity issues in Newry and it was, at that point, believed that no technical solutions would be available (such as storm water offsetting from combined sewers in Newry) to resolve the issue of overloading.
“Subsequently, the Infrastructure Minister and NI Water agreed a pilot scheme that will potentially release capacity
for in excess of 400 houses in Newry (effluent from the adjacent pumping station is ultimately transported to Newry’s Greenbank WWTW).
“NI Water is currently in the process of reviewing a large number of Waste Water Impact Assessments in Newry, but there has been a recent indication that capacity will be released.”
This release may not come until after March 2026, when NI Water expects to have completed its review of these assessments.
Despite these ongoing issues, NI Water have not opposed the proposal on “compatibility grounds” and the Planning Statement alludes to the interim period between now and March as being beneficial in the sense it allows all other potential “planning and environmental issues” to be resolved.
The second “constraint” surrounds the existence of an engineering works nearby, whereby additional “safeguards” have been required owing the site bounding a sewage pumping station to the north.
The statement clarifies that this is not a “treatment works”, but, again, early consultations have taken place with NI Water which has confirmed it will not be raising any objections.
If approved, a total of 53 parking spaces will be provided for the residents and visitors to the development which will be located exclusively to the side of the properties to maintain a reasonable degree of separation and avoid a sense of “terracing”.
