Committee Stresses Need for Sustainable Drainage to Stop Flooding

The Assembly Committee for Regional Development visited three sites today to see, at first-hand, a number of projects aimed at alleviating flooding.  The sites, developed by Transport NI and NI Water, were at College Park Avenue in Belfast; Green Road, Conlig; and Carrowreagh in Dundonald. 

Speaking after today’s visit the Chairperson of the Committee, Trevor Clarke MLA, said: “The introduction of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in major developments and road schemes is essential to ensure that the risk of flooding is minimised.  Building hard surfaces such as roads and car parks results in surface water needing somewhere to go and, unless properly managed, it will result in flooding elsewhere and we can’t allow that to happen.”

Mr Clarke added: “The Committee is hugely supportive of the need to include sustainable drainage in developments, particularly the soft SuDS which include landscaping and natural features to reduce surface water, so much so that we pushed for an amendment to the recent Water and Sewerage Service Bill which contained provision for SuDS to be included in future developments.  Whilst mindful of the need for commercial, residential and transport development, an onus needs to be put on the developers to consider the impact of their works on others and on the environment.”

Deputy Chairman, Seán Lynch MLA, concluded: “We need to do all within our power to address the devastating effect of flooding, and the use of these SuDS will help to address that problem in the future.  We, as a Committee, saw some excellent examples of the benefits of these schemes when we visited Wales last year and we need to follow their example while we still have the opportunity to make a difference.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The schemes demonstrate how the introduction of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) work to manage surface water by effectively mimicking the natural drainage cycle, which is altered by commercial and residential developments and road schemes.

The College Park Avenue site removes storm flows from the combined sewer network in a busy urban environment; whereas the Conlig and Dundonald sites make use of geo-cellular tanks, buried underground, to collect surface water from large housing developments and stops flooding in areas downstream. A number of other major schemes that incorporate SuDS in their development include the A5, A6 and A8 road schemes.

Committee Membership:

The Chairperson of the Committee is Trevor Clarke MLA

The Deputy Chairperson is Seán Lynch MLA

The Committee has a further nine members:

Adrian Cochrane-Watson MLA
John Dallat MLA
Brenda Hale MLA
Chris Lyttle MLA
Declan McAleer MLA
Daniel McCrossan MLA
David McNarry MLA
Stephen Moutray MLA
Cathal Ó hOisín MLA