Dundrum planning ban to stay in place for another two years

Dundrum planning ban to stay in place for another two years

1 May 2024

A PLANNING ban on major new development in Dundrum is expected to remain in place for at least another two years until work on a £9m upgrade of the village’s sewage treatment plant and sewerage infrastructure is completed.

The news was confirmed during a special meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down Council on Monday night when politicians were provided with a detailed overview of Northern Ireland Water’s investment proposals over the coming years.

Almost £77.5m is being invested across the district on sewage treatment plant upgrades in Dundrum, Downpatrick, Drumaness, Newcastle, Annsborough and Ballynahinch.

The figure includes almost £9.5m being invested at the Fofanny water treatment facility outside Bryansford, with £4m earmarked for the Drumaroad drinking water treatment works.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that two key community development projects in Dundrum had been placed on hold by the ongoing ban on development in the village.

The Church of Ireland aims to develop the Old School House at the junction of Main Street and School Hill to create two units which could be rented out to community organisations or as the base for commercial operations. 

The listed building has been derelict for a number of years and the church is keen to develop the site to stop the deterioration in the structure and the provide an income for the parish.

But the plans by the Select Vestry of Kilmegan, Dundrum and Maghera have been blocked by NI Water which is refusing to allow any connections to the sewer network until the completion of the ongoing upgrade of the sewerage infrastructure in the village.

A similar development plan to regenerate the former Castle Vaults pub at the other end of Main Street is also being stalled because of the ban which NI Water says will not be lifted until two pumping stations are constructed at either end of Dundrum.

The Dundrum Development Association acquired the former bar and plans to demolish the remains of the structure before redevelopment.

In its place, the Association wants to construct two commercial units and four apartments in a building, but NI Water is opposed to the development of the Castle Vaults site and the Old School House, along with all other development in the village which requires a connection to a sewer, because of the pressure on the sewerage infrastructure.

NI Water began a major upgrade to the sewerage infrastructure in 2019 and has completed the overhaul of the sewage treatment works on the Newcastle Road and of the sewers throughout the village. 

The provision of the pumping stations is the last part of the project. However, the ongoing financial problems facing NI Water means it has been continually delayed and there is no indication of when the work will be carried out.

Because of the delay in completing the work, Dundrum is in a unique position in Northern Ireland as the only village or town where a complete ban on development has been imposed by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

The ban was imposed several years ago because of pollution concerns in Dundrum Inner Bay, which is the location for a large shellfish farm. 

During Monday night’s council meeting, Slieve Croob councillor Alan Lewis highlighted the current restrictions on new development in the village, despite extensive investment to upgrade its wastewater infrastructure.

He said the Dundrum Development Association has been contacted by the local authority’s Building Control Department which has highlighted the unsafe condition of the Castle Vaults site.

“Slates are coming off the roof and the group that owns it wants to knock it down to regenerate the area, but it can’t do that because of the current planning restrictions that are in place,” he said.

“Is there any scope for the planned new building to go ahead, but not be connected to the sewerage system until NI Water has completed the various upgrades it is proposing?” he asked.

Mr Ronan Larkin, the organisation’s finance director, said Dundrum was in line for extensive investment.

He said the investment will focus on an additional upgrade to the sewage treatment plant, a drainage area plan and dealing with “unsatisfactory intermittent discharges.”

In relation to the redevelopment of the Castle Vaults site, Mr Larkin said he was unaware of the detail and would be reluctant to give the go ahead for work to start until the planned investment gets underway.

“We are committed to carrying out this work and want to make sure that we underpin it with any optimisation of the funding we have available to us to get those works underway,” insisted Mr Larkin.

“Dundrum is an area where we have done quite a lot of work and this next phase is a key part of what we started a couple of years back. We want to make sure we find a way to finish it.”