Saintfield flooding ‘cannot be allowed to continue’

Saintfield flooding ‘cannot be allowed to continue’

2 September 2020

A FLOODING problem at the Belfast Road outside Saintfield has the potential to cause a major accident and swamp a rural home in the area, a local politician has warned.

Part of the main A7 regularly floods at a section of the busy road where there are no street lights which leaves drivers unaware of the potential they face as they travel towards when it is dark.

Storm Francis exacerbated the problem last week which saw one of the biggest ever floods witnessed in the area. A nearby house was also flooded.

Rowallane councillor Robert Burgess has pleaded with the Department for Infrastructure to address the issue. He said that with winter approaching “time is of the essence”.

He said that while roads officials do clean the gullies along a section of road between the Ballygowan Road turnoff and the entrance to Saintfield Mart, the flooding problem persists.

He believes that the pipes which are supposed to take water away from the drains are blocked and is urging the government department to survey the network of pipes using CCTV to discover where potential blockages may be.

“I have raised this particular issue with roads officials on many occasions,” he continued. “Regular users of the road which links Saintfield and Carryduff will be acutely aware of the flooding problem, but many have said that they never saw it as bad as it was last week.”

Cllr Burgess also believes that blocked storm drain pipes close to the Ballygowan Road turnoff contributed to flooding problems at this area on Tuesday of last week.

“The bottom line is that this situation cannot be allowed to continue,” he continued. “If the section of A7 had flooded when it was dark, drivers unfamiliar with the area would have ploughed into quite a significant flood which could have resulted in them losing control of their vehicle.

“While a huge amount of rain did fall last week, flooding at this part of the A7 is a regular occurrence, but it was certainly more pronounced last week.”

Cllr Burgess, who spoke to a homeowner who lives along the A7, said the man’s property flooded during last week’s torrential downpour.

He said the driveway which leads to the home which sits blow the level of the main road has previously flooded.

“The man told me while the driveway issue was annoying, it was not a huge problem. However, his home flooded twice in November and December two years ago,” explained Cllr Burgess.

“The situation was so bad in 2018 that flood water came up through a shower drain, destroying bedroom carpets in the man’s home. Flood water has also found its way into a sceptic tank which caused a manhole to overflow, emptying the contents of the tank across the outside of the property.”

Cllr Burgess said the property owner has raised the issue with NI Water and that on the previous occasions in 2018 when his home flooded, he was able to take action to tackle the floodwater.

“The man is concerned what would happen if he was at work or in bed when flooding occurred. he should not have to live with this worry. That’s why it is important the pipes which are supposed to take flood water away from the main road are inspected.

“If they were clear, hundreds of gallons of rainwater would not have flooded this man’s home or part of the A7 last week. The problem needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

He said while he understands roads officials will be inundated with requests in the wake of the fallout from Storm Francis, the issue needs to investigated.

“It will simply be too late acting if the flooding leads to a serious accident or this man’s homes is swamped  again. I am no engineer, but there may be a simple solution to cure this major problem.”