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PROBLEMS with the water system in Dungannon are ‘impacting’ proposed development in the town, NI Water has revealed.
The organisation in charge of the North’s water supply system has been warning for years that huge investment is needed to bring the system up to adequate standards. New details have emerged about just how big the problem is in Dungannon.
In a question at the Northern Ireland Assembly, Minister for Infrastructure John O’Dowd was asked by Fermanagh and Omagh Ulster Unionist MLA Diana Armstrong for the extent of the current capacity for new water and wastewater connections in the Dungannon area, and the measures being taken to address any constraints.
Being able to connect to a water supply is one of the basic elements required for any proposed residential or business to be approved for planning permission.
In response to Ms Armstrong’s question, Mr O’Dowd said he had requested information from NI Water on the current situation in Dungannon.
“In respect of new water connections, there are currently no constraints within the Dungannon area,” he said.
“With regard to new wastewater connections, there are currently significant constraints within the wastewater network in the Dungannon area, which are impacting proposed new development, due to the presence of storm overflows which are classified as Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UIDs).
“These UIDs are also classified as ‘high polluting assets’ which means that these areas are closed to any further connections due to the likelihood of increasing environmental pollution.”
Mr O’Dowd said NI Water is investing approximately had earmarked £45m to upgrade Dungannon’s wastewater treatment works over the period from 2021/22 to 2027/28.
However, he added there was ‘no UID upgrades planned’ in the Dungannon area over the same period.
Earlier this year, a number of organisations warned more than 6,000 houses will not be built and thousands of jobs will be lost over the next two years unless urgent action is taken to avert a “full-blown crisis” in the North’s wastewater system.
The dire warning came in a paper prepared for the NI Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Construction Employers Federation and NI Federation of Housing Associations.
