NI Water presents investment plans in Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and warns of impact of funding shortfalls.
30 January 2024 16:00
NI Water met with Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council representatives on Monday 29th January 2024 to provide an overview of its planned infrastructure investments, challenges, and development constraints over the coming years.
NI Water emphasised its commitment to working with Councils and developers to progress the Council’s ambitions for the people in their area.
NI Water’s Head of Investment Management, Dr Stephen Blockwell, said: “NI Water is ready and capable to deliver for the people of LCCC. However, recent potential budget reductions of approx. £900m over the next 3 years will severely restrict the progress we hoped to make. The scale of this funding reduction and associated uncertainty may have far-reaching consequences. If applied, future homes, businesses and public buildings will be unable to connect to the wastewater system right across Northern Ireland to protect the environment. It is too early to assess the immediate impact on LCCC, but without a doubt, the impact could be extensive.
“Our infrastructure plans over the 2021 – 2027 period (known as PC21) for the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area requires full funding to upgrade wastewater assets. This investment will only begin to address the capacity issues currently identified in the Council area. Significant further investment will be required during future Price Control periods to allow new housing and business developments to proceed in some areas.”
Dr Blockwell updated the Council that the Lisburn Drainage Area Plan model has been completed. This has provided verified data on wastewater networks which has confirmed wastewater capacity constraints across the Lisburn drainage catchment. This information will be utilised to develop capital schemes which, subject to adequate funding, will provide the infrastructure to support future development plans. He also highlighted that this information would be used by NI Water when considering its statutory responses to planning applications, with the potential for more recommendations for refusal due to the model indicating there is no capacity in the sewer network.
Dr Blockwell continued: “As we complete Drainage Area Models, we are gaining a much more accurate picture of the current state of our existing network. This will undoubtably impact on large developers and individual builders who are considering building. The key is to contact NI Water early if you are planning to build. NI Water is ready to provide engineering solutions to short term constraints where possible. However, without the full funding identified by the Utility Regulator in its Final Determination (to cover the years 2021- 2027) the vision of economic expansion for the people of LCCC simply will not happen.
“The message is clear, a fit for purpose water and wastewater infrastructure is the blueprint that will help ensure Northern Ireland is a strong, modern regional economy.
A number of slides with information on current sewer and wastewater issues and proposed investment in Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council were presented at the meeting.
Further information can be found on our website https://www.niwater.com/capacity-information/