Plans for £4.2m upgrade to 'Victorian' Foyle Street sewerage system could help realise Derry Whiskey Emporium

Officials from NI Water said that at present, planning proposals were being met with ‘negative’ feedback because of capacity issues in the water system in the city.

They were speaking while unveiling plans to carry out a major upgrade to the water drainage system along Foyle Street in 2024 which would necessitate bus stops being moved to Foyle Street car park.

Addressing Derry City & Strabane District Council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee at their October meeting, Robert McLean, NI Water senior project manager in capital delivery, presenting with Steve Blockwell, head of Investment management at NI Water, spoke of the need for the scheme.

Mr McLean said that the sewage system along Foyle Street is around 100 years old, having been installed in the 1920s. It consisted, he said, of one combined foul and storm, egg-shaped sewer system, which was, he said, no longer normal and would have been “built in the Victorian ages”.

He said that at present the system requires regular cleaning due to silting and there was a need to separate the storm flow. New connections onto this sewer system cannot be accepted due to its capacity, and the risk of sewage overflowing and impacting homes, businesses and the environment in the Foyle Street area, he said.

A 100-year-old ductile iron watermain on Foyle Street also needs to be replaced, and it is proposed to upgrade this at the same time as part of the £4.2m works, which are subject to funding availability, licenses and land agreements.

Funding, NI Water said, is expected to be in place in 2024 and a business case has been submitted. The plan is to commence construction in summer 2024 and to have the project completed by summer 2025, although this timeline is indicative at this stage.

Elected representatives were told that the upgrade will improve discharge into the River Foyle, accommodate short-term infrastructure developments in the local area while NI Water is also committed to facilitating future upgrades.

“Storm separation and planning restraints are two of the main drivers behind this scheme,” Mr McLean said. “Most people will be aware in the city that the existing Culmore Wastewater Treatment works is currently operating at capacity and that is resulting in curtailment of new foul connections.”

He said that capacity issues has resulted in NI Water ‘unfortunately returning negative responses’ to planning applications and that this was subject to further investigations. He said an example of this was proposals for a whiskey emporium including a shop, exhibition space, tasting experience, bar, function room and food facilities in the heart of the city centre along 7- 17 Foyle Street.

Plans to revive Derry’s rich tradition of whiskey distillation and breathe life into some of our city’s heritage buildings on Foyle Street via a new ‘Watt’s Whiskey Emporium’ were revealed last year.

Mr McLean said: “Our proposal with the storm separation will remove a significant volume of storm water from the existing wastewater network and this will have a benefit to such applications as this one here for the whiskey distillery."

He said NI Water have been carrying out investigations from the north to the south of Foyle Street for eight years, including using CCTV to assess the state of the sewer, ground investigations while 500 tonnes of de-silting and jetting has been carried out over that time.

It emerged during the meeting that while it would bring many benefits there would be a need to close off stretches of one Derry’s busiest streets temporarily in four stages from Peace Park to just past the Orchard Street / Water Street junction. Doing it in this phased way will mean that there will still be access to the bus station throughout, and extensive work with Translink on this has been carried out to date, Mr McLean said.

Foyle Metro bus stops along Foyle Street will temporarily have to be relocated elsewhere during the works, with negotiations ongoing to obtain Foyle Street car park next to the Peace Park for temporary halts.

Engagement with local businesses and organisations is also under way, Mr McLean added.

Sinn Féin Colr. Emma McGinley said it was ‘clear to everybody this work is necessary’.

"The infrastructure is there over 100 years at this stage and it is needed, as was referenced there, in terms of planning and development of the city and there are planning applications already being turned down because this type of work hasn’t happened.”

Colr. McGinley queried what engagement has gone on with the other traders in Foyle Street such as pubs, restaurants and shops.”

Mr. McLean said access to pedestrians along the paths will be facilitated at all times with break points so pedestrians can get across the road if they need to, and that traders will be brought in in clusters at the end of October to discuss their needs as they were “key to the success of the project”.

UUP Alderman Derek Hussey said the age of the infrastructure has to be addressed and that that cannot be done without disruption.

He also said there will be a reduction to income from Council with the loss of the car park and that he hoped this would be remunerated.

SDLP Colr. Martin Reilly said the Foyle Street car park closure will result in additional demand at Victoria Market, and urged Translink to look at additional facilities to deal with impact on the transport network, including at Drumahoe park’n’ride as bus passengers may opt to park there as an alternative.

DUP Alderman Julie Middleton sad that further down the line more clarification on the layout of the temporary bus stop arrangements will be needed to address any concerns over road and pedestrian safety.