AQW 7739/09

Mrs Naomi Long
Alliance Party
East Belfast

Tabled Date: 14/05/2009
Answered On Date: 28/05/2009
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Regional Development to outline the processes followed by Road Service and NI Water when they are presented with evidence of repeat out of sewer or other flooding on the site of a planning application, which they have not raised in the statutory consultation process.

Answer:

My Department’s Roads Service has advised that they are a consultee to Planning Service, providing specialist information and transportation advice for development applications that affect the public road network. Road Service’s assessment of planning applications is, therefore, restricted to road safety, traffic progression and transportation issues.

Northern Ireland Water (NIW) has advised that its response to Planning Service is informative about the availability of water supply, foul and surface water infrastructure and wastewater treatment capacity.

If an application is approved by Planning Service, NIW requires the developer to submit details of proposed drainage layouts for assessment and new developments are not permitted to connect to the public sewerage system unless adequate capacity has been identified.

NIW undertakes regular scheduled maintenance on the sewerage infrastructure to ensure that it operates effectively. It is also currently undertaking a number of drainage area studies to assess the capacity of the sewerage network and to identify parts of the system that need to be upgraded. These studies will lead to a programme of sewer improvements and upgrades which will reduce the risk of repeated out-of-sewer flooding and will cater for future development.