Derry developer Braidwater calls for review of sewer funding as it emerges 5,300 new homes held up

Of 19,000 properties across the North unable to proceed without NI Water investment - 5,300 are in Derry & Strabane.

One is the massive The Cashel development on H2 lands between Ballymagroarty and Coshquin where the Eglinton-headquartered Braidwater Group is investing £450m to build 2,500 new homes.

Joe McGinnis, Managing Director, said: “The Cashel is our biggest ever investment in terms of time and money, so to be told in July that NI Water is unable to fund the £15m upgrades at Coshquin Pumping Station required to press ahead with this project is hugely disappointing.

“We have plans to build over 2,500 homes on the Buncrana Road site throughout the lifespan of the project. However, we will be unable to deliver a single home due to these current challenges, thereby causing extensive delays to the scheme.

“In addition, the Department for Communities has committed approximately £45m for the delivery of social housing at this site in the midst of a housing crisis, and yet funding constraints in other departments have caused substantial setbacks.

“We recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing these challenges, and that the broader issues affecting the industry must be taken into account alongside any potential future changes.”

Back in March, Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville, in her ‘Funding water infrastructure in NI’ report, warned a lack of capacity across the North was holding back development and called for a review of sewerage infrastructure funding.

Mr. McGinnis said: "With this in mind, we request a full review of governance and funding of NI Water as set out in the NI Audit Office report on the basis that all the details can be considered before any changes are made to legislation.”

The matter was raised at the Stormont Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday by local SDLP MLA Mark H. Durkan.

"There is a pumping station that needs £15m investment. This is hindering development of a site that has been in planning for all of my political life which is 20 years now,” he said.

This week Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd said he was exploring whether developers would be able to make contributions towards sewerage and wastewater to help improve capacity.

Mr. Durkan asked: "What level of contribution would a developer be expected to make? Because you don't want to get into a situation...where a developer does make a percentage of the total cost contribution but [with] NI Water not being in a position to pay up their share.”

The minister replied: “In terms of developer contributions we are now currently examining as to whether we need legislation to allow developers to make contributions to wastewater treatment works.”

He said the policy would have to be developed with the committee, NI Water, developers and others.

"I see it as one of a suite of solutions to the challenges that NI Water faces: developer contributions, working with nature in terms of the SUDs [Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems bill and other initiatives we can carry forward, and working with my Executive colleagues to secure additional funding for NI Water.”

Derry development being held back because waste and sewerage works near capacity limit: NIAO