Derry & Strabane Councillors express concerns over lack of flooding updates

At the previous Environment and Regeneration meeting in December, members were told that an update report was absent from the agenda as a DfI report on flood mitigation had not been received.

At that meeting, Director of Environment and Regeneration, Karen Phillips, assured members that a report would be included in the next Committee meeting in January.

During the meeting, which took place on Wednesday, SDLP councillor Martin Reilly noted that council had still not received a report from DfI, which could cause concern among constituents of the Waterside and Faughan areas of the city.

“I think it would be useful to get [the report] at the start of this year for residents that are worried about inclement weather and the flooding that that can arise,” he said. “So an update would be appreciated.”

Councillor Reilly also highlighted that Infrastructure Minister, John O’Dowd, had recently launched a public consultation on DfI’s ‘Living With Water in Derry/Londonderry’ initiative, which, according to DfI, is a “strategic long-term approach to drainage and waste-water management in the city and surrounding area”.

He asked if officers had any plans to provide DfI with an official response on behalf of council.

DUP Alderman Julie Middleton said flooding reports should remain on the Committee’s agenda every month, regardless of whether Council had receive a report form DfI or not, as members “should be talking about this every single time”.

Ms Phillips said that the lack of update reports was due to council staff absences, which had led to a “communications breakdown” between council and DfI, and said officers would endeavour to bring one back as soon as possible.

She added that officers had been working with the ‘Living With Water in Derry/Londonderry’ team, as well as NI Water, around “potential projects that we could work together on”.

Ms Phillips concluded: “The Minister has now released the consultation, so we will bring that back to members next month for your information and for any comments you may have.”

Andrew Balfour,

Local Democracy Reporter.