Government needs to get flooding plan right

Government needs to get flooding plan right

11 June 2025

STORMONT Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins says her department “wants to get it right” when it comes to measures to protect Downpatrick town centre.

She made the comment during a briefing with members of the town’s Regeneration Working Group at the Down County Museum last week.

The meeting took place just hours after details of the various options contained in a feasibility study looking at the causes of the devastating November 2023 flood and the way forward were made public.

Ms Kimmins said she was familiar with the impact of the catastrophic flood and it was something her department was keen to address.

The estimated cost of a catalogue of measures to prevent future flooding is £22.5m with the minister insisting “you can’t leave anything to chance and say you don’t have the money and we can’t do anything”.

She said her department wanted to be as “proactive as possible”.

Ms Kimmins said her officials were “moving as far into the future as possible” and working backwards so the various options presented in the feasibility study are looking at a 100 year protection.

“We are trying to put in the most sustainable, long term protection for Downpatrick; trying to build something that is future proof as well. The cost of doing nothing is so much greater and we have to ensure what we do has the maximum effect,” she continued.

“We have to reduce the impact of flooding and protect homes and businesses and this is one element of this.”

She conceded that the flood and its aftermath had been a “massive learning curve”.

“Realistically, we can put as much infrastructure in place but we are trying to plan as far ahead as we can into the future,” she said.

The minister said further work would be undertaken to determine whether the proposed scheme would be economically viable.

“Flooding in Downpatrick and how to reduce that flood risk is an extremely complex issue with many variables. That is why it was important that a comprehensive study was carried out to inform the most viable and effective way ahead.”

Ms Kimmins said in terms of funding, there was a need to get an idea of “what we are looking at and what the option going forward might be and then the cost of that process”, explaining her department was not quite at that point yet, but is in a good position to know potentially what is ahead.

“This needs to happen but we want to make sure we get it right,” she said.

Regeneration officials were told last week that a computerised simulation of possible flooding scenarios in Downpatrick was used to help find the best way of reducing the risk of similar scenes to those witnessed in 2023.

The comprehensive study looked at a range of scenarios and potential solutions.

Outlining the next steps, Ms Kimmins said everyone remembered the scenes in Downpatrick in the autumn of 2023 – “no one more so than the householders and business owners whose properties were affected by floodwater”.

She continued: “However, flooding in Downpatrick, and how to reduce that flood risk, is an extremely complex issue with many variables, which is why it was important that a comprehensive study was carried out to inform the most viable and effective way ahead.

“A detailed computer model simulated a range of suggested measures, with the preferred option providing the target standard of flood protection to approximately 106 properties.”

Ms Kimmins said further work will now be undertaken to develop a business case for the potential flood alleviation scheme, including a detailed assessment to determine if this preferred option will be economically viable.”

She confirmed that as this work moves to the next stage, her department has established contacts with a group of businesses in Downpatrick through the work of the Regional Community Resilience Group (RCRG).

Established in November 2024, it is one of over 50 similar groups across the province working work with her officials and our multi-agency partners to help make their communities more weather resilient.