THE Environment Agency has asked Northern Ireland Water to prevent raw sewage seeping onto sports pitches at Dunleath Park in Downpatrick.
The news was confirmed at a meeting of Down Council on Monday night when politicians agreed to allow NI Water to use local authority land to bury a huge underground sewage collection tank.
The sports pitches have been closed at various times over the past three years after becoming contaminated with sewage seeping onto the playing surface at various locations.
In a bid to address the problem. NI Water wants to channel raw sewage into the holding tank, particularly when there is heavy rain, to prevent storm water and sewage mixing which leads to flooding in the vicinity of the sports pitches.
The sewage in the holding tank will subsequently be pumped to a treatment plant at the Belfast Road.
Members of Down Council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee were told on Monday night the holding tank will be buried on land at the rear of Russell Park which backs on to Dunleath Park.
During construction work NI Water will build a temporary access road to link up with an existing path which runs adjacent to the all-weather pitch at Dunleath to allow its vehicles access to the site of the underground tank.
When work on the scheme has been completed the temporary road will be replaced with grass.
Downpatrick councillor Éamonn Mac Con Midhe said he hopes work on the NI Water scheme can begin in the New Year as promised.
He said the locally named plank drain which runs alongside the sports pitches and part of which lies open, is “regularly contaminated with raw sewage.”
He added: “There is a major problem to be addressed at this part of the town. I hope the underground tank is the solution to all the problems we have been experiencing at Dunleath Park. The current situation where raw sewage can bubble up from beneath the surface is intolerable,” he added.