Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd told MLAs this week that NI Water has not yet secured a site for a new pumping station required to facilitate 2,500 new homes in Derry close to the Donegal border.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00N.A. Water has advised me that they have not secured a site for the new wastewater pumping
00:03station at Cowse Quinn, and therefore does not have planning permission to upgrade the
00:07wastewater treatment works. The Cowse Quinn wastewater treatment works cannot be upgraded
00:12until a site has been identified and secured, and then must go through the planning process.
00:17Therefore, the carousel housing development cannot progress until a site has been identified
00:22and planning permission granted. N.A. Water have been in negotiations with the landlord for the
00:27preferred site since August 2023. As these negotiations to date have been unsuccessful,
00:33N.A. Water is also investigating alternative sites.
00:40Thank you to the Minister for your answer thus far. Can the Minister confirm that it is not
00:44a budgetary issue that is holding up the carousel development in Derry?
00:49At the moment, no. If you do not have a site and you do not have planning permission,
00:53I do not see how you can spend a budget. There are a number of barriers that have to be overcome
00:58there. The site has to be identified, planning permission has to be granted,
01:02and then the thorny question of budget comes alive.