Interim flood alleviation measures are welcomed

AN ‘interim solution’ to recent flooding in the Ballycolman Estate in Strabane is to begin this month, the Infrastructure Minister has announced.

This comes after Minister John O’Dowd had a tense meeting with residents in the Strabane housing estate, and pledged to bring forward the required work to prevent the flooding of homes in the area.

Mr O’Dowd said, “Following my visit, I wrote to the Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey seeking her department’s approval in connection with a short-term solution being actively progressed in conjunction with Derry City and Strabane District Council (DC&SDC).

“The short-term intervention to provide flood relief to the houses under threat of flooding requires the temporary use of DC&SDC lands and this required approval from the Department for Communities.

“I am pleased to announce that Minister Hargey has granted my department and the council permission to facilitate access to the lands and this will allow progression of the works in advance of the formal completion of the legal agreement.”

The Minister also confirmed his department would commence construction works later this month which would considerably reduce the risk of in-house flooding to properties at Ballycolman.

“I also fully recognise the need to introduce viable longer-term solutions as swiftly as possible to reduce the impacts of further flooding,” he added.

Welcoming the announcement, Strabane Sinn Féin councillor, Michaela Boyle, said, “This will be met with great relief by the long-suffering residents at the bottom of the Ballycolman Estate who have been repeatedly flooded over recent years.

Meanwhile, SDLP West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan called for a permanent solution to flooding in the Strabane area.

Mr McCrossan said,“I welcome that a temporary solution is being put in place to prevent an immediate repeat of the flooding we saw in this area last month, but what families in this area need are long-term solutions to ensure that they never have to go through this again.”