Council motions back additional measures to help flood victims

Council motions back additional measures to help flood victims

6 December 2023

SEVERAL motions were discussed at Monday night’s monthly meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down Council in the wake of last month’s town centre flooding in Downpatrick.

Motions on flood preparedness, flood defences and a scheme to boost spending in the local economy were tabled by Alliance councillors Cadogan Enright, Jill Truesdale and David Lee-Surginor respectively.

Cllr Enright’s motion on flood defences identified a number of gaps in flood defences across the district and called on the local authority to submit an application to the Shared Island Unit in the Republic of Ireland for capital investment in flood defences. 

In recent times, the Shared Island Unit has committed funding to a number of cross-border initiatives including the Narrow Water Bridge in Warrenpoint and expansion of the Magee Campus in Derry. 

Cllr Enright argued that with the Department of Infrastructure ultimately responsible for flood defences,but limited in terms of its existing budgets, it was vital to explore “all avenues” to secure capital funding for much-needed flood defences in the district.

He said this work was especially important in Downpatrick where the flooding exposed the “devastating inadequacy of existing defences”.

Cllr Truesdale’s motion called for an improved early warning system, investment in sand bags and flood barriers, community networks to assist in flood response and examination of maintenance centre schedules of water courses. 

“It was abundantly clear that our district was not ready for the recent floods, despite the unprecedented rainfall over several days,” she said.

“This highlights the need for better preparedness, communication and coordination, and whilst a lot of good work was done by several agencies, including the council in the aftermath of the flood, we need to get better at early warning in particular.”

Cllr Truesdale said community networks established in 2013 to aid local flood responses were now largely inactive, with no system to provide warnings to the business community whatsoever.

“A few hours’ notice might have allowed businesses to avoid thousands of pounds worth of damage,” she added.

Cllr Lee-Surginor proposed the creation of a “shop local voucher scheme” to be piloted in Downpatrick and possibly expanded in other areas. 

His motion urged the local authority to invest in a scheme similar to the one already successfully operating in places like Enniskillen, Ballymena and Antrim where people can buy a voucher for a wide range of local shops in a defined area. 

“I believe this would be an excellent way to boost spending in post-flood Downpatrick and build some extra resilience into the local economy,” said Cllr Lee-Surginor.

“If successful, it could easily be scaled up at very little cost in other areas. The technology exists to easily roll this out in a couple of months, at minimal cost of around £10,00) a year to the council.”

Cllr Enright and Cllr Truesdale’s motions were referred to the local authority’s Sustainability and Environment Committee, while Cllr  Lee-Surginor’s motion will be discussed by the Economic, Regeneration and Tourism Committee.