AQW 30741/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 09/03/2022
Answered On Date: 15/03/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) whether NI Water are currently providing pre-development reports on the sewerage capacity in Limavady, should a potential developer request one; and (ii) what steps she has taken to inform prospective property developers in this area of any limits on capacity that could affect the granting of their planning application.

Answer:

(i)NI Water continues to provide Pre-Development Enquiry (PDE) responses, if requested by developers, for Limavady, as with any location in Northern Ireland. Depending on the wastewater capacity of NI Water’s assets, the PDE response could highlight that a wastewater impact assessment may be required.

(ii)NI Water has undertaken an extensive communication process to inform developers, of wastewater capacity issues. This has involved meeting with key stakeholders, industry bodies and a significant number of individual developers, their agents and designers. This included developers in the Limavady area and has been part of a consistent message under NI Water’s Drains before Cranes campaign over recent years.

NI Water is committed to working with developers to consider ways of accommodating development, wherever possible, and strongly encourages developers to engage with it as early as possible through its Pre-Development Enquiry (PDE) process, to determine if there is an issue with wastewater treatment capacity in the area. This early engagement will help to identify potential problems and enable developers to work with NI Water in an effort to find solutions to facilitate new connections.