Ballynahinch flood fears to be investigated

Ballynahinch flood fears to be investigated

2 December 2015

A FLOODING problem on Ballynahinch’s High Street is to be investigated by Transport NI.

Heavy rain led water levels to rise around several businesses on Monday morning. The inside of the properties narrowly avoided flooding but they have been subject to several near misses recently.

Accountant Peter O’Hare said there was a prompt response from the Department of Regional Development on Monday morning but wants the root of the problem tackled.

He said the first problem came with the snow in March 2014, which led to water coming into his building, with three concerning incidents in recent months.

“I have been getting phone calls from clients saying that the water is nearly up to my door,” he said.

Mr O’Hare said that whether the problem stemmed from recent street scape or road resurfacing works or not, the cause needed to be established.

Businesswoman Lorna Digney said flooding from heavy rain had made it difficult for customers to access her store at times.

She said she was thankful not to have suffered any serious damage so far.

“This is the third time this year,” she said. “Last time it happened on a Sunday and I was getting phone calls from customers to let me know.

“It has been a problem recently.”

Local councillor Mark Murnin said a blocked drain on the opposite side of the road had recently been dealt with but that unfortunately the flooding problem had not been resolved.

“This seems to be a new problem,” he said. “Transport NI need to investigate what has caused it.”

A TransportNI spokesman said: “TransportNI have were on site on Monday morning at High Street, Ballynahinch and fixed the immediate problem. However we plan to carry out further investigations in the forthcoming weeks into the flooding.”